Abstract
The relation between subjects’ predicted and actual memory performance is a central issue in the domain of metacognition. In the present study, we examined the influence of item similarity and associative strength on judgments of learning (JOLs) in a cued recall task. We hypothesized that encoding fluency would cause a foresight bias, so that subjects would overestimate recall of identical pairs (scale-scale), as compared with strong associates (weight-scale) or unrelated pairs (mask-scale). In Experiment 1, JOLs for identical word pairs were higher than those for related and unrelated pairs, but later recall of identical pairs was lower than recall of related pairs. In Experiment 2, the effect of encoding fluency (inferred from self-paced study time) was examined, and a similar pattern of results was obtained, with subjects spending the least amount of time studying identical pairs. We conclude that overconfidence for identical pairs reflects an assessment of item similarity when JOLs are made, despite associative strength being a better predictor of later retrieval.
Article PDF
References
Arbuckle, T. Y., &Cuddy, L. L. (1969). Discrimination of item strength at time of presentation.Journal of Experimental Psychology,81, 126–131.
Begg, I., Duft, S., Lalonde, P., Melnick, R., &Sanvito, J. (1989). Memory predictions are based on ease of processing.Journal of Memory & Language,28, 610–632.
Benjamin, A. S., Bjork, R. A., &Schwartz, B. L. (1998). The mismeasure of memory: When retrieval fluency is misleading as a metamnemonic index.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,127, 55–68.
Dunlosky, J., &Matvey, G. (2001). Empirical analysis of the intrinsic-extrinsic distinction of judgments of learning (JOLs): Effects of relatedness and serial position on JOLs.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,27, 1180–1191.
Dunlosky, J., &Nelson, T. O. (1994). Does the sensitivity of judgments of learning (JOLs) to the effects of various study activities depend on when the JOLs occur?Journal of Memory & Language,33, 545–565.
Fischhoff, B. (1975). Hindsight ≠ foresight: The effect of outcome knowledge on judgment under uncertainty.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,1, 288–299.
Hertzog, C., Dunlosky, J., Robinson, A. E., &Kidder, D. P. (2003). Encoding fluency is a cue used for judgments about learning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,29, 22–34.
Kelley, C. M., &Jacoby, L. L. (1996). Adult egocentrism: Subjective experience versus analytic bases for judgment.Journal of Memory & Language,35, 157–175.
Kimball, D. R., &Metcalfe, J. (2003). Delaying judgments of learning affects memory, not metamemory.Memory & Cognition,31, 918–929.
Koriat, A. (1997). Monitoring one’s own knowledge during study: A cue-utilization approach to judgments of learning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,126, 349–370.
Koriat, A., &Bjork, R. A. (2005). Illusions of competence in monitoring one’s knowledge during study.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,31, 187–194.
Koriat, A., &Bjork, R. A. (2006). Illusions of competence during study can be remedied by manipulations that enhance learners’ sensitivity to retrieval conditions at test.Memory & Cognition,34, 959–972.
Koriat, A., &Ma’ayan, H. (2005). The effects of encoding fluency and retrieval fluency on judgments of learning.Journal of Memory & Language,52, 478–492.
Nelson, D. L., McEvoy, C. L., & Schreiber, T. A. (1999).The University of South Florida word association, rhyme, and word fragment norms. Available at www.usf.edu/FreeAssociation.
Nelson, T. O. (1993). Judgments of learning and the allocation of study time.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,122, 269–273.
Thiede, K. W., &Dunlosky, J. (1999). Toward a general model of self-regulated study: An analysis of selection of items for study and self-paced study time.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,25, 1024–1037.
Tulving, E. (1974). Recall and recognition of semantically encoded words.Journal of Experimental Psychology,102, 778–787.
Zechmeister, E. B., &Shaughnessy, J. J. (1980). When you know that you know and when you think that you know but you don’t.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,15, 41–44.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Castel, A.D., McCabe, D.P. & Roediger, H.L. Illusions of competence and overestimation of associative memory for identical items: Evidence from judgments of learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, 107–111 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194036
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194036