Recent evidence has shown that eliciting confidence ratings can affect cognitive performance--a so-called reactivity effect. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for reactivity, but currently there is only indirect evidence about why confidence ratings are reactive. Here, we explore the strategic changes in cognitive processes that…

Despite the naïve intuition that individuals' confidence in their future memory performance should increase with longer self-paced study time, it is commonly observed that the relation between invested study time and memory predictions (i.e., judgments of learning (JOLs)) is negative. This negative relation has been suggested to reflect use of the…

Our school career culminates in a set of exam results, but if students want to do well, attending lessons is not enough: the implicit expectation is that all students will reinforce learning independently outside of the classroom. Really effective learners employ effective independent study techniques, but when, how and where do they learn to do…

The font size effect is a metamemory illusion in which larger-font items produce higher judgments of learning (JOLs) but not better memory, relative to smaller-font items. We conducted meta-analyses to determine what is currently known about how font size affects JOLs and memory accuracy. In addition, we implemented both univariate and…

When learning from texts, it is not only important that learners remember and comprehend the content, but also that they monitor and accurately judge their memory and comprehension so as to efficiently regulate their learning. In the present experiment with 51 university students, we investigated to what extent headings within texts promote these…

For successful learning, students need to evaluate their learning status relative to their learning goals and regulate their study in response to such monitoring. The present study investigated whether making metacognitive judgments on previously studied text would enhance the learning of that studied (backward effect) and newly studied text…

Research suggests that explanatory pictures support learning, whereas pictures that distract processing resources from the main ideas of a text may impair learning and are considered as seductive illustrations. However, non-explanatory pictures that are related to the text and that do not tempt readers to focus illustrations more than the text's…

Posttraining meditation has been shown to promote wakeful memory stabilization of explicit motor sequence information in learners who are experienced meditators. We investigated the effect of single-session mindfulness meditation on wakeful and sleep-dependent forms of implicit motor memory consolidation in meditation naïve adults. Immediately…

Interim tests of previously studied information can potentiate subsequent learning of new information, in part, because retrieval-based processes help to reduce proactive interference from previously learned information. We hypothesized that an effect similar to this forward testing effect would also occur when making judgments of (prior) learning…

Recent studies established that making concurrent judgments of learning (JOLs) can significantly alter (typically enhance) memory itself--a "reactivity" effect. The current study recruited 190 Chinese children (M[subscript age] = 8.68 years; 101 female) in 2020 and 2021 to explore the reactivity effect on children's learning, its…

This study is mainly designed to evaluate a popular learning method: previewing material before classes and to answer two research questions on the learning method. The research questions are "Does previewing have benefits in promoting future learning?" and "Do people have correct metacognitive judgements on the effects of…

Metamemory refers to the metacognitive awareness of one's own memory status. Previous research has shown that item value plays a dominant role in self-regulated study (e.g., strategic choices regarding when, what, and how to study). In spite of extensive research on the effects of item value on in learners' study behaviour, less is known about the…

Over a century of research has established practice testing as a highly robust learning strategy that promotes long-term retention. However, learners do not always appreciate the benefits of testing for memory and do not use it as effectively as they could during their own self-regulated learning. The goal of this review is to identify common…

The majority of research on metamemory focuses on retrospective memory: memory for past events. Prospective memory, in contrast, refers to the process of remembering to carry out intentions in the future. Despite claims that metacognition is essential to prospective remembering, it is unclear whether the metamemorial effects that researchers have…

Research has observed that monitoring one's own learning modifies memory for some materials but not for others. Specifically, making judgments of learning (JOLs) while learning word pairs improves subsequent cued-recall memory performance for related word pairs but not for unrelated word pairs. Theories that have attempted to explain this pattern…