Quizzing and Restudy Dynamics in a TST Paradigm: The (Null) Effect of Feedback and the (Significant) Effects of Metacognition

In authentic educational settings, using formative quizzes or tests can improve students’ memory by direct strengthening of the memory trace. There are other indirect effects of testing, however, such as improved understanding of what one does and does not know. That is, quizzes can benefit students’ metacognitive awareness, which may in turn affect their restudy behaviors. We tested whether different types of feedback (correct/incorrect, correct answer, or minimal) differentially affected students’ metacognition, changed their restudy behaviors, and influenced final test performance. We found no effect of feedback type, but were able to better understand quizzing and restudy dynamics in an authentic educational scenario. For example, we show that even with minimal feedback, participants had insight into which concepts they answered incorrectly, because they later chose to restudy those concepts. Additionally, they were especially likely to restudy high-confidence errors, which were the most discrepant from expected performance. Finally, these behaviors appear to be adaptive, in that the items they chose to restudy were more likely to be answered correctly on the final test

The Role of Processing Fluency in Source Memory and Metamemory

Processing fluency influences various judgements in memory and cognition such as fluency-based familiarity in tests of item recognition memory. However, less is known about the interplay between fluency and source information in recognition memory and metamemory phenomena. The present thesis investigated the relationship between perceptual fluency and the accuracy of source memory decisions (Experiments 1-3b), as well as the contribution of perceptual fluency to the font size effect (i.e., the tendency to rate larger font words as easier to remember than smaller font words, despite font size having no effect on retention performance) in judgements of learning (Experiments 4-6). Fluency was indexed via identification response times (RTs) derived from adapted versions of the continuous identification (CID) task, in which stimuli gradually clarified through progressive demasking. Identification RTs were faster in trials with correct retrieval of source information compared to trials for which source could not be accurately retrieved, and JOLs were indirectly increased by the faster identification RTs associated with a larger font size. These findings suggest that fluency is related both to source memory and metamemory judgements

The Effects of Response Modality on Retrieval

The testing effect refers to the finding that retrieval practice can lead to enhanced recall on future tests. Despite being a widely researched phenomenon, the underlying mechanisms of the testing effect remain unknown, and basic issues are unresolved. The purpose of these experiments was to investigate how different response modalities influence retrieval both on initial and delayed tests. More specifically, we were interested in whether subjects can recall more via writing or speaking, whether writing: or speaking) on a first test can lead to better performance on a second test: and whether the type of second test would matter), and whether any form of overt retrieval on a first test leads to better performance on a final test compared to just thinking about a response. All of these questions were aimed at determining whether the beneficial effects of testing arise from the act of retrieval or are somehow tied to the production of the answer. Three experiments show that there are only small, if any, differences between typing and speaking performance, and that an initial covert retrieval will often yield the same benefit to future test performance as retrieval with an overt response production. The practical implications for education suggest that in rehearsing information, just thinking about an answer is just as beneficial to future retrieval as reporting answers aloud or writing them down

Nurse-patient interaction : A vital salutogenic resource in nursing home care

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Neurological Correlates of the Dunning-Kruger Effect

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a metacognitive phenomenon in which individuals who perform poorly on a task believe they performed well, whereas individuals who performed very well believe their performance was only average. To date, this effect has only been investigated in the context of performance on mathematical, logical, or lexical tasks, but has yet to be explored for its generalizability in episodic memory task performance. We used a novel method to elicit the Dunning-Kruger Effect via a memory test of item and source recognition confidence. Participants studied 4 lists of words and were asked to make a simple decision about the words (source memory, i.e. Is it manmade? Is it alive?). They were later tested on their episodic memory and source memory for the words using a five-point recognition confidence scale, while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. After the test, participants were asked to estimate the percentile in which they performed compared to other students. Participants were separated into four quartiles based on their performance accuracy. Results showed that participants in all four groups estimated the same percentile for their performance. Participants in the bottom 25th percentile overestimated their percentile the most, while participants in the top 75th percentile slightly under-estimated their percentile, exhibiting the DKE and extending its phenomenon into studies of episodic memory. Groups were then re-categorized into participants that over-estimated, correctly estimated, and under-estimated their percentile estimate. Over-estimators responded significantly faster than under-estimators when estimating themselves as in the top percentile and they responded slower when evaluating themselves as in the bottom percentile. EEG first revealed generic scalp-wide differences within-subjects for all memory judgments as compared to all self-estimates of metacognition, indicating an effective sensitivity to task differences. More specific differences in late parietal sites were evident between high percentile estimates and low percentile estimates. Between-group differences were evident between over-estimators and under-estimators when collapsing across all Dunning-Kruger responses, which revealed a larger late parietal component (LPC) associated with recollection-based processing in under-estimators compared to those of over-estimators when assessing their memory judgements. These findings suggest that over- and under-estimators use differing cognitive strategies when assessing their performance and that under-estimators use less recollection when remembering episodic items, thereby revealing that episodic memory processes are playing a contributory role in the metacognitive judgments of illusory superiority that are characterized by the Dunning-Kruger Effect

The role of schematic support in strategy choice during cognitive skill learning

This study examines influences on strategic differences in skill learning that occur with increasing age. Older adults differ in their strategic approach to cognitive skill acquisition tasks, where their progression from slow algorithmic processing to faster memory-based processing is slowed relative to young adults. In addition to difficulties older adults have with learning new associations, the difference in task approach has been linked to strategic choice, where factors such as lower confidence change how they interact with the task (e.g., Touron, 2015). The present study sought to understand older adults’ strategic task approach by manipulating the task items to be more naturalistic with everyday experience. Participants completed a task that associated grocery items with prices, which are easier to learn if the prices are consistent with everyday experience (Castel, 2005). The relations between the grocery items and prices were manipulated to be familiar by approximating market prices, or to be unfamiliar by being overpriced. I found that use of the market-prices facilitates older adults’ strategic approach to the task, demonstrated through greater and earlier use of memory-based processing than older adults with overpriced items. Surprisingly, the young adults in the overpriced condition also showed less use of memory-based processing, linked with lower task confidence; young adults have not previously shown reluctance to use memory strategies in cognitive skill acquisition tasks. Consequences of task confidence are discussed, as well as implications for theories of cognitive skill acquisition

The Impact of First-Person Perspective Text and Images on Drivers’ Comprehension, Learning Judgments, Attitudes, and Intentions Related to Safe Road-Sharing Behaviors

Drivers and cyclists lack an alignment of road sharing knowledge, attitudes, and expectations, resulting in unnecessary fatalities. Educational countermeasures need to present information that captures drivers’ interest by being personally relevant, facilitate elaboration and synthesis of new information with existing knowledge, and change attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Well-documented health-related communication methods were employed to determine their effectiveness in a transportation domain. Health countermeasure designers use first-person perspective to improve narrative instruction outcomes, based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Exploring narrative perspective-taking as a design tool requires the integration of multiple disciplines. Our design case stems from the existing Virginia road-sharing safety educational handbook. The first study evaluated the effects of text-based information written from a first- and third-person perspective on cognitive and affective learning outcomes. The Theory of Planned Behavior framework (TPB; Ajzen, 1991) was used to interpret the following outcome measurements that are predictive of behavior: comprehension, judgments of learning, attitudes, and intentions. The second study employed the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML; Mayer, 1997) to understand the interactions between text and visual perspectives on cognitive and affective learning outcomes. In addition, cognitive load, multiple knowledge types, and three behavioral intention components were also considered when evaluating the efficacy of first-person perspective. It was found that the first-person perspective effect used in the health domain does not transfer to a transportation domain. The data were explored further and discussed, as well as key limitations and possible future directions

Metamemory or just Memory? Searching for the Neural Correlates of Judgments of Learning

Judgments of Learning (JOLs) are judgments of the likelihood of remembering recently studied material on a future test. Although JOLs have been extensively studied, particularly due to their important applications in education, relatively little is known about the cognitive and neural processes supporting JOLs and how these processes relate to actual memory processing. Direct access theories describe JOLs as outputs following direct readings of memory traces and hence predict that JOLs cannot be distinguished from objective memory encoding operations. Inferential theories, by contrast, claim JOLs are products of the evaluation of a number of cues, perceived by learners to carry predictive value. This alternative account argues that JOLs are made on the basis of multiple underlying processes, which do not necessarily overlap with memory encoding. In this thesis, the neural and cognitive bases of JOLs were examined in a series of four ERP experiments. Across experiments the study phase ERP data showed that JOLs produce neural activity that is partly overlapping with, but also partly distinct from, the activity that predicts successful memory encoding. Furthermore, the neural correlates of successful memory encoding appear sensitive to the requirements to make a JOL, emphasising the close interaction between subjective and objective measures of memory encoding. Finally, the neural correlates of both JOLs and successful memory encoding were found to vary depending on the nature of the stimulus materials, suggesting that both phenomena are supported by multiple cognitive and neural systems. Although the primary focus was on the study phase ERP data, the thesis also contains two additional chapters reporting the ERP data acquired during the test phases of three of the original experiments. These data, which examined the relative engagements of retrieval processes for low and high JOL items, suggest that encoding processes specifically resulting in later recollection (as opposed to familiarity) form one reliable basis for making JOLs. Overall, the evidence collected in this series of ERP experiments suggests that JOLs are not pure products of objective memory processes, as suggested by direct access theories, but are supported by neural systems that are at least partly distinct from those supporting successful memory encoding. These observations are compatible with inferential theories claiming that JOLs are supported by multiple processes that can be differentially engaged across stimulus contents

The Relation Between Perceived Mental Effort, Monitoring Judgments, and Learning Outcomes:A Meta-Analysis

Accurately monitoring one’s learning processes during self-regulated learning depends on using the right cues, one of which could be perceived mental effort. A meta-analysis by Baars et al. (2020) found a negative association between mental effort and monitoring judgments (r = -.35), suggesting that the amount of mental effort experienced during a learning task is usually negatively correlated with learners’ perception of learning. However, it is unclear how monitoring judgments and perceptions of mental effort relate to learning outcomes. To examine if perceived mental effort is a diagnostic cue for learning outcomes, and whether monitoring judgments mediate this relationship, we employed a meta-analytic structural equation model. Results indicated a negative, moderate association between perceived mental effort and monitoring judgments (β = -.19), a positive, large association between monitoring judgments and learning outcomes (β =.29), and a negative, moderate indirect association between perceived mental effort and learning outcomes (β = -.05), which was mediated by monitoring judgments. Our subgroup analysis did not reveal any significant differences across moderators potentially due to the limited number of studies included per moderator category. Findings suggest that when learners perceive higher levels of mental effort, they exhibit lower learning (confidence) judgments, which relates to lower actual learning outcomes. Thus, learners seem to use perceived mental effort as a cue to judge their learning while perceived mental effort only indirectly relates to actual learning outcomes.</p