Multiple bases for young and older adults' judgments of learning in multitrial learning

Prior work has suggested that participants use a memory-for-past-tests (MPT) heuristic for judgments of learning (JOLs) in a multitrial learning scenario. That is, when learning the same material in multiple sessions, previous memory performance can be used as a basis for later memory predictions. We explored this issue by evaluating the impact of healthy aging on the use of MPT across trials. Young adults and healthy older adults learned pairs of words, made JOLs, and received a memory test in three study-test trials on the same material. Results indicated that both young and older adults relied on MPT as a basis for JOLs and changes in MPT across trials were nominal. Further, only the most-recent past test influenced JOLs, whereas earlier tests were unrelated to later judgments. JOLs were also influenced by prior-trial JOLs and were related to subsequent memory performance on the same trial. We suggest that these data support both indirect- and direct-memory mechanisms as the bases for the MPT heuristic. Further, in a multitrial learning scenario, in which the same information was being learned, young and older adults used the same bases for their JOLs.     

Trait Goal Orientation, Self-Regulation, and Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to meta-analytically examine trait goal orientation constructs and their relationships with the self-regulation variables of self-monitoring, self-evaluations, self-reactions, and self-efficacy as well as task performance across a range of contexts.

Design, Methodology, Approach

Data were gathered from published and unpublished research examining the goal orientation construct and self-regulation and/or task performance. Effect sizes from 102 research reports involving over 16,000 participants were included.

Findings

In general the mastery-approach goal orientation construct was positively related to the self-regulation and performance variables. Conversely, negative relationships were found between the performance-avoid goal orientation and those variables. Relationships between goal orientation and self-regulation tended to be higher compared to those found for goal orientation and performance. Overall, the findings support the discriminant validity of the three factors of goal orientation (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoid).

Practical Implications

Practitioners and researchers will benefit from learning that mastery-approach goal orientation consistently relates to self-regulation and task performance. The findings indicate that a mastery-approach goal orientation could serve as a meaningful predictor in selection processes or as an explanatory variable of motivation.

Originality/Value

The present study updates and expands upon past research by focusing on relationships of trait goal orientation across a variety of contexts. The results extend meta-analytic results to a wider range of self-regulatory variables.     

General knowledge monitoring as a predictor of in‐class exam performance

Background. Current theories of self‐regulated learning predict a positive link between student monitoring accuracy and performance: students who more accurately monitor their knowledge of a particular set of materials are expected to more effectively regulate their subsequent study of those materials, which in turn should lead to higher test performance. Aims. The present study further explored the link between monitoring accuracy and performance by investigating whether monitoring of one set of materials would predict performance on a different set of materials. Sample. The participants were college students (N= 379) enrolled in an educational psychology course. Method. Students’ monitoring accuracy was measured at the start of the semester; the monitoring task involved materials that were not related to class content (i.e., general knowledge vocabulary) and that were related to class content (i.e., terms from educational psychology). Target performance was students’ scores on the final exam. Results. Monitoring accuracy significantly predicted student performance on the final exam, even when the monitoring task and final test were based on materials from different content domains. Also, the class‐related (vs. unrelated) materials in the monitoring task did not improve the predictive validity of monitoring accuracy, suggesting a limited role for domain specificity in the relationship between monitoring skill and performance. Conclusions. This study establishes a critical link between general monitoring accuracy and exam performance within a classroom setting.     

Self-regulated profiles and academic achievement

To date, research on the relation between learning self-regulation and academic achievement has generally show disparate results. This work intends to look into this relation from a new perspective, which consists in classifying the students as more or less self-regulated depending on diverse indicators and using cluster analysis. The aim of this work was to identify the possible self-regulated learning profiles in a sample of university students. By means of stepwise linear regression analysis, we determined which of the selected variables better predicted metacognitive self-regulation. Then, three significantly different self-regulated learning profiles were obtained by two-step cluster analysis with those variables. Lastly, ANOVA was used to analyse the relation between the self-regulated learning profiles and academic achievement. The implications of these data for the educational practice at university are discussed.     

Prior Performance and Goal Progress as Moderators of the Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Performance

Over the last several years, the conventional view of self-efficacy as a positive influence on performance has been called into question. Researchers have identified a negative relationship between self-efficacy and performance when examined via within-person analyses, even in the presence of large positive between-person relationships. The current study proposes that the within-person relationship between self-efficacy and subsequent performance is moderated by one's degree of prior success or failure. Using a multitrial task, support was found for the proposed model. Following poor or substandard performances, self-efficacy was positively related to subsequent performance. However, following more successful prior performances, self-efficacy was negatively related to subsequent performance. Implications of these findings for theory and research on work motivation are discussed.     

Relationships among age, sex, and depth of sport experience with initial open-task performance by 4- to 9-year-old children.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative interrelationships of age, sex, and depth of sport experience on initial practice of a soccer task for 46 4- to 9-yr.-old children. Each child practiced 1 transfer trial and 3 blocks of 3 trials. Measures recorded were performance time, goal attainment, and movement accuracy. Multivariate analyses of variance and multiple regressions yielded evidence for (a) a speed-accuracy tradeoff, (b) a relation of age to goal attainment, movement accuracy, and performance time on the transfer trial, and (c) a relation of age with Block 1 performance time. Experience was more related than sex to all variables except movement accuracy in Block 1 and consistency of goal attainment. Conclusions are that age and experience are the most important to the quality of performance, and no constructs were related to consistency on this task for this age group.     

Improving performance expectancies in stereotypic domains: task relevance and the reduction of stereotype threat

The experiments presented here extend previous research on reducing stereotype threat, along with examining the mediating role of performance expectancies. Women who generated shared academic characteristics between men and women predicted higher scores for themselves on a math test compared to the baseline and those who generated shared non‐academic characteristics or shared physical characteristics. No effects were found for male participants' performance expectancies on an English test. Extending the relevance of these findings for stereotype threat research, women completing a math test, who first completed the shared academic characteristics task, both expressed higher performance expectancies and greater accuracy in math performance than participants in all other conditions. A partially mediating role of performance expectancies in relation to task and math performance was also found. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does delaying judgments of learning really improve the efficacy of study decisions? Not so much

A widely held assumption in metamemory is that better, more accurate metamemory monitoring leads to better, more efficacious restudy decisions, reflected in better memory performance--we refer to this causal chain as the restudy selectivity hypothesis. In 3 sets of experiments, we tested this hypothesis by factorially manipulating metamemory monitoring accuracy and self-regulation of study. To manipulate monitoring accuracy, we compared judgments of learning (JOLs) made contemporaneously with a delayed retrieval attempt to JOLs either made at a delay without attempting retrieval or made immediately after study; in previous studies, delayed retrieval-based JOLs have robustly predicted recall with greater relative accuracy than have the other JOL types. To manipulate self-regulation of study, in Experiments 1A-1C and 2A-2C, we compared conditions in which participants' restudy selections were honored with conditions in which they were completely or randomly dishonored; in Experiments 3A-3C, we randomly honored or dishonored half of the restudy selections and half of the nonselections. Results revealed that the benefit of delayed, retrieval-based JOLs for final memory performance was due largely to the selection of more items for restudy rather than to better discriminations between items that would benefit more versus less from restudy. In most cases, gains in recall due to greater self-regulation of study did not increase with better monitoring accuracy; when they did, the effect was extremely small. The surprising conclusion was that restudy decisions were not very much more efficacious under conditions that yield greater monitoring accuracy than under those that do not.     

The effect of divided attention on global judgment of learning accuracy

This study examined the effect of divided attention (DA) on global judgment of learning (JOL) accuracy in a multitrial list learning paradigm. A word monitoring task was used to divide attention. Participants were assigned to an attention condition (DA at encoding, DA at judgment, DA at retrieval, or focused attention) and completed 4 learning trials, each comprising a study, judgment, and recall phase. Participants showed greater overconfidence in the DA at encoding (Trial 2) and DA at retrieval (Trials 1 and 2) conditions than in the focused attention condition. DA atjudgment did not affect JOL accuracy, and there was no effect of DA in Trials 3 and 4 on JOL accuracy across all attention conditions. Results indicate that participants consider conditions of encoding and retrieval but do not engage in recall when forming global JOLs. These findings suggest that people rely on extrinsic cues when making repeated, global metamemoryjudgments.     

Differential Development of Learning Strategies on a Pictorial Verbal Learning Test (PVLT) in Primary-School Children

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that developmental differences exist in the use of learning strategies in primary school children. Serial and subjective clustering in a multitrial Pictorial Verbal Learning Test (PVLT) were compared in 79 children aged 6–12. Correlation analyses indicated that serial clustering yielded better performance when information was presented on the initial trials of the test. Subjective clustering was superior when information was presented repeatedly, i.e., after three or more trials. Analyses of variance indicated that subjective clustering was used more often in older children with repeated presentations. On the other hand, there was no increase in the use of serial clustering with age and with repeated presentations. The findings imply that training in the use of proper strategies could have benefit for children who use an inefficient learning strategy and/or have a learning problem. In addition, they point to the importance of the factor “age” in relation to the way information is presented to children.     

Alterations in error-related brain activity and post-error behavior over time

This study examines the relation between the error-related negativity (ERN) and post-error behavior over time in healthy young adults (N=61). Event-related brain potentials were collected during two sessions of an identical flanker task. Results indicated changes in ERN and post-error accuracy were related across task sessions, with more negative ERN associated with greater improvements in post-error accuracy. This relationship was independent of any cross-sectional relationships between overall task performance, individual difference factors, including personality and self-efficacy, and indices of self-regulatory action monitoring. These results indicate that the relation between ERN and post-error accuracy remains intact and consistent regardless of variation in this set of individual difference factors previously associated with both of these indices of self-regulatory action monitoring, providing support for the strength, robustness, and persistence of this relationship in the process of adaptively controlling behavior to enhance task performance.     

Individual differences in working memory capacity and search efficiency

In two experiments, we examined how various learning conditions impact the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and memory search abilities. Experiment 1 employed a delayed free recall task with semantically related words to induce the buildup of proactive interference (PI) and revealed that the buildup of PI differentially impacted recall accuracy and recall latency for low-WMC and high-WMC individuals. Namely, the buildup of PI impaired recall accuracy and slowed recall latency for low-WMC individuals to a greater extent than what was observed for high-WMC individuals. To provide a circumstance in which previously learned information remains relevant over the course of learning, Experiment 2 required participants to complete a multitrial delayed free recall task with unrelated words. Results revealed that with increased practice with the same word list, WMC-related differences were eventually eliminated in interresponse times (IRTs) and recall accuracy, but not recall latency. Thus, despite still accumulating larger search sets, low-WMC individuals searched LTM as efficiently as high-WMC individuals. Collectively, these results are consistent with the notion that under normal free recall conditions, low-WMC individuals search LTM less efficiently than do high-WMC individuals because of their reliance on noisy temporal–contextual cues at retrieval. However, it appears that under conditions in which previously learned items remain relevant at recall, this tendency to rely on vague self-generated retrieval cues can actually facilitate the ability to accurately and quickly recall information.     

Private speech on an executive task: relations with task difficulty and task performance

Measures of private speech and task performance were obtained for a sample of 46 5- and 6-year-olds engaged on a mechanical version of the Tower of London (ToL) task. Two different sets of four puzzles of increasing difficulty were attempted on two occasions. In line with Vygotskian predictions, there was a quadratic relation between private speech and task difficulty, but no evidence of a shift towards self-regulatory sub-types of private speech with increasing task difficulty. Levels of self-regulatory private speech were significantly related to concurrent, but not subsequent, task performance. We discuss the significance of these findings for the Vygotskian view that private speech has an adaptive function in the self-regulation of behaviour.     

Task‐ and self‐related pathways to deep learning: The mediating role of achievement goals,classroom attentiveness,and group participation

Background The expectancy‐value and achievement goal theories are arguably the two most dominant theories of achievement motivation in the contemporary literature. However, very few studies have examined how the constructs derived from both theories are related to deep learning. Moreover, although there is evidence demonstrating the links between achievement goals and deep learning, little research has examined the mediating processes involved. Aims The aims of this research were to: (a) investigate the role of task‐ and self‐related beliefs (task value and self‐efficacy) as well as achievement goals in predicting deep learning in mathematics and (b) examine how classroom attentiveness and group participation mediated the relations between achievement goals and deep learning. Sample The sample comprised 1,476 Grade‐9 students from 39 schools in Singapore. Methods Students' self‐efficacy, task value, achievement goals, classroom attentiveness, group participation, and deep learning in mathematics were assessed by a self‐reported questionnaire administered on‐line. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the hypothesized model linking these variables. Results and conclusions Task value was predictive of task‐related achievement goals whereas self‐efficacy was predictive of task‐approach, performance‐approach, and performance‐avoidance goals. Achievement goals were found to fully mediate the relations between task value and self‐efficacy on the one hand, and classroom attentiveness, group participation, and deep learning on the other. Classroom attentiveness and group participation partially mediated the relations between achievement goal adoption and deep learning. The findings suggest that (a) task‐ and self‐related pathways are two possible routes through which students could be motivated to learn and (b) like task‐approach goals, performance‐approach goals could lead to adaptive processes and outcomes.     

Adolescent risk-taking is predicted by individual differences in cognitive control over emotional,but not non-emotional,response conflict

While much research on adolescent risk behaviour has focused on the development of prefrontal self-regulatory mechanisms, prior studies have elicited mixed evidence of a relationship between individual differences in the capacity for self-regulation and individual differences in risk taking. To explain these inconsistent findings, it has been suggested that the capacity for self-regulation may be, for most adolescents, adequately mature to produce adaptive behaviour in non-affective, “cold” circumstances, but that adolescents have a more difficult time exerting control in affective, “hot” contexts. To further explore this claim, the present study examined individual differences in self-control in the face of affective and non-affective response conflict, and examined whether differences in the functioning of cognitive control processes under these different conditions was related to risk taking. Participants completed a cognitive Stroop task, an emotional Stroop task, and a risky driving task known as the Stoplight game. Regression analyses showed that performance on the emotional Stroop task predicted laboratory risk-taking in the driving task, whereas performance on the cognitive Stroop task did not exhibit the same trend. This pattern of results is consistent with theories of adolescent risk-taking that emphasise the impacts of affective contextual influences on the ability to enact effective cognitive control.     

Peer Relationships and Emotional Well-Being of Children with Sickle Cell Disease: A Controlled Replication

This study investigated the effects of stimulus presentation modality on working memory performance in elementary school-age children ages 7–13. The experimental paradigm implemented a multitrial learning task incorporating three presentation modalities: Auditory, Visual, and simultaneous Auditory plus Visual. The first experiment compared the learning and memory performance of older and younger elementary school children. The second experiment compared verbal learning and memory performance in elementary school children with major depressive disorder (MDD) to the performance of nondepressed children. All participants benefited from the pictorial presentation of information during learning and recall of information as compared to the auditory presentation alone. Both age and socioeconomic status affected working memory performance in typically developing children. Children with depression demonstrated a more passive learning style during the auditory list acquisition. The present study supports the pictorial superiority hypothesis in verbal learning tasks and the theory that working memory matures during elementary school years. Furthermore, current results indicate that complex working memory measures are not entirely independent of previous experience.     

阅读中的元理解监测与元理解调控

采用“阅读－关键词处理－元理解监测－测验1－选择文章重读－测验2”的流程, 探讨元理解监测对元理解调控与阅读理解成绩的影响。结果显示, 延迟写关键词相对于即时写和不写关键词更利于监测精 确性的提高; 延迟关键词组借助精确的监测能做出有效的元理解调控, 选出测验1中得分低的文章重读, 并在测验2中有较好表现, 而其他两组只能选出其认为难的、而非得分低的文章重读, 在测验2中表现不 佳。元理解监测的精确性影响元理解调控的有效性, 进而影响阅读理解成绩。     

Impact du type de buts et du sentiment d'auto-efficaciaté sur l'autorégulation et la performance dans une tâche cognitive

The aim of this study was to examine two hypotheses derived from theoretical models of the role of learning and performance goals in cognitive functioning. The first predicts that being highly focused on performance goals leads students to develop lower levels of self-efficacy than those who are less focused on performance. The second hypothesis predicts that the combination of high performance goals and low self-efficacy will have a negative impact on students' self-regulation and performance in a new task. After having filled out a questionnaire assessing their goals, 128 female students were met individually and asked to solve a verbal concept formation task. Self-efficacy was assessed prior to the resolution of the task during which self-regulation and performance were observed. Contrary to the first hypothesis, students having high performance goals were found to have higher self-efficacy than those having low goals. In addition, no interaction between self-efficacy and performance goals was found on self-regulation and performance on the task. The results showed that whatever students' goals, self-efficacy is a powerful determinant of self-regulation and performance. The discussion emphasizes the role of self-efficacy and the value of a motivational profile combining high concern for both performance and learning goals in cognitive functioning.     

Can students evaluate their understanding of cause-and-effect relations? The effects of diagram completion on monitoring accuracy

For effective self-regulated study of expository texts, it is crucial that learners can accurately monitor their understanding of cause-and-effect relations. This study aimed to improve adolescents' monitoring accuracy using a diagram completion task. Participants read six texts, predicted performance, selected texts for restudy, and were tested for comprehension. Three groups were compared, in which learners either completed causal diagrams immediately after reading, completed them after a delay, or received no-diagram control instructions. Accuracy of predictions of performance was highest for learning of causal relations following delayed diagram completion. Completing delayed diagrams focused learners specifically on their learning of causal relations, so this task did not improve monitoring of learning of factual information. When selecting texts for restudy, the participants followed their predictions of performance to the same degree, regardless of monitoring accuracy. Fine-grained analyses also showed that, when completing delayed diagrams, learners based judgments on diagnostic cues that indicated actual understanding of connections between events in the text. Most important, delayed diagram completion can improve adolescents' ability to monitor their learning of cause-and-effect relations.     

Metacognitive monitoring during criterion learning: When and why are judgments accurate?

Research on metacognitive judgment accuracy during retrieval practice has increased in recent years. However, prior work had not systematically evaluated item-level judgment accuracy and the underlying bases of judgment accuracy in a criterion-learning paradigm (in which items are practiced until correctly recalled during encoding). Understanding these relationships during criterion learning has important theoretical implications for self-regulated learning frameworks, and also has applied implications for student learning: If the factors that influence metacognitive judgments are not predictive of subsequent test performance, students may make poor decisions during self-regulated learning. In the present experiments, participants engaged in test–restudy practice until items were recalled correctly. Once a given item reached criterion, participants made an immediate or delayed judgment of learning (JOL) for the item. A final cued-recall test occurred 30 min later. We examined judgment accuracy (the relationship between JOLs and test performance) and the underlying bases of judgment accuracy by evaluating cue utilization (the relationship between cues and JOLs) and cue diagnosticity (the relationship between cues and test performance). Immediate JOLs were only modestly related to subsequent test performance, and further analyses revealed that the cues related to JOLs were only weakly predictive of test accuracy. However, delaying JOLs improved both the accuracy of the JOLs and the diagnosticity of the cues that influenced judgments.