Abstract
In four experiments, we examined the effects of repetitions and variability on the learning of bird families and metacognitive awareness of such effects. Of particular interest was the accuracy of, and bases for, predictions regarding classification of novel bird species, referred to as category learning judgments (CLJs). Participants studied birds in high repetitions and high variability conditions. These conditions differed in the number of presentations of each bird (repetitions) and the number of unique species from each family (variability). After study, participants made CLJs for each family and were then tested. Results from a classification test revealed repetition benefits for studied species and variability benefits for novel species. In contrast with performance, CLJs did not reflect the benefits of variability. Results showed that CLJs were susceptible to accessibility-based metacognitive illusions produced by additional repetitions of studied items.
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Author note
The present research was supported by National Institute on Aging Grant 5T32AG000030 and by a James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Bridging Brain, Mind, and Behavior Collaborative Award. We thank Rachel Teune for her assistance with manuscript preparation and data collection. We also thank Sarah Arnspiger, Ashley Bartels, Lauren Guenther, Synneva Hagen-Lillevik, Dan Howard, and Ashim Lamichhane for their assistance with data collection.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to C. N. Wahlheim, Department of Psychology, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130 (e-mail: wahlheim@artsci.wustl.edu).
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Wahlheim, C.N., Finn, B. & Jacoby, L.L. Metacognitive judgments of repetition and variability effects in natural concept learning: evidence for variability neglect. Mem Cogn 40, 703–716 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0180-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0180-2