What you know can hurt you: effects of age and prior knowledge on the accuracy of judgments of learning

How do aging and prior knowledge affect memory and metamemory? We explored this question in the context of a dual-process approach to Judgments of Learning (JOLs), which require people to predict their ability to remember information at a later time. Young and older adults (n = 36, mean ages = 20.2 & 73.1) studied the names of actors who were famous in the 1950s or 1990s, providing a JOL for each. Recognition memory for studied and unstudied actors was then assessed using a Recollect/Know/No-Memory (R/K/N) judgment task. Results showed that prior knowledge increased recollection in both age groups such that older adults recollected significantly more 1950s actors than younger adults. Also, for both age groups and both decades, actors judged R at test garnered significantly higher JOLs at study than actors judged K or N. However, while the young showed benefits of prior knowledge on relative JOL accuracy, older adults did not, showing lower levels of JOL accuracy for 1950s actors despite having higher recollection for, and knowledge about, those actors. Overall, the data suggest that prior knowledge can be a double-edged sword, increasing the availability of details that can support later recollection, but also increasing nondiagnostic feelings of familiarity that can reduce the accuracy of memory predictions.