The Effect Of Delayed Judgment Of Learning On Memory Retention

Memory is a fundamental cognitive capacity.Our memories define what we know,and who we are.When we start understanding our memory and trying to monitoring and control it,that is metamemory.Metamemory refers to people’s knowledge of,monitoring of,and control of their own learning and memory processes.Judgment of learning(JOL)refers to people’s predictions about the likelihood of remembering a recently studied piece of information on a later memory test,which is typically measured by using item-level self-report format.A potential hypothesis of the method is that the task that requiring learners to make JOL will not affect the ongoing memory process.A growing body of evidence shows,however,that the act of making a JOL might,itself,alter memory.Whereas we typically think of JOL as monitoring outcomes that,themselves,have no impact on the underlying memories unless they are explicitly and consciously used to control study allocation or efforts at retrieval.Reactivity refers to instances where individuals modify their behavior or performance in response to being measured or observed.If the mere making of JOL alters the learning process,we need to understand how and why,so that we can advise learners on the best use of JOL during studying.When using a typical research paradigm of delayed JOL,participants first studied word pairs and then were asked to rate how likely they were to recall the target word when provided with the cue word at a delay following initial study on a future test.Owing to the time interval between studying and monitoring,when making the delayed JOL,participants need to retrieval the learning materials first.The attempt to retrieve target information from long-term memory is more like a covert memory test.Therefore,researchers often draw an analogy between the effect of delayed JOL on memory and the testing effect.However,there were radical differences between delayed JOL and memory test.Firstly,the main tasks of delayed JOL and test were different.The former was memory prediction,and that of the latter was memory retrieval.Secondly,the contents of the two that reports were different.The former reported the predicted value of memory,and the latter reported the memory target itself.Finally,the former retrieved the target covertly,while the latter retrieved the targets overtly.In sum,it is inappropriate to make an analogy between the effects of delayed JOL on memory and testing effect.So how exactly does delayed JOL affect memory? Is the effect of delayed JOL on memory positive or negative?What is the role of covert retrieval attempts in this reactivity effect?In order to answer the above questions,this research first puts forward a theoretical framework of the reactivity effect of delayed JOL,which is trying to explain the internal process and cognitive mechanism of how delayed JOL affect memory systematically and comprehensively.Four studies(10 experiments)were conducted to explore the impact and mechanism of delayed JOL on memory retention from four aspects: the robustness of the reactivity effect,the impact of retrieval attempt on reactivity effect,the role of cognitive switch in reactivity effect,and the impact of familiarity and recollection on reactivity effect.And then we verified the rationality of the theoretical framework aforementioned.Study 1,by setting different retention intervals(5 minutes,1 day and 2 days),using 0%～100% probability judgment and yes/no dichotomy judgment reporting method,the stability of delayed JOL reactivity effect under different memory retention intervals was investigated.Results showed that when using 0%～100%format judgment,delayed JOL could promote memory retention under both short retention interval(5 minutes)and long retention interval(1 day)(Experiment 1);When the retention interval become longer(2 days),a positive delayed JOL reactivity effect was still observed(Experiment 2).When using the dichotomous format judgment,whether for short-term memory retention(5 minutes)or long-term memory retention(2 days),delayed JOL both showed a positive memory promoting effect,and delayed JOL was more conducive to long-term memory retention than restudy(Experiment 3).Study 2 explored the influence and its internal mechanism of retrieval attempt on the reactivity effect of delayed JOL by setting a variety of retrieval conditions,such as overt retrieval attempt,covert retrieval attempt and delayed JOL without retrieval attempt.Results showed that the promoting effect of delayed JOL on memory was similar to that of covert retrieval attempt,and the process of delayed JOL was more time-consuming than that of retrieval attempt without confidence judgment(Experiment 4).Delayed JOL was more helpful to promote memory retention than restudy,and the failure of retrieval attempt did not impair memory performance(Experiment 5).Compared with the overt retrieval attempt,delayed JOL showed no advantage in promoting memory retention,although its reaction time is longer(Experiment 6).Study 3 manipulated the task time pressure by setting multiple scales of delayed JOL(0%～100% divided into 101 grade,0%～100% divided into 11 grade with 10 as the interval,0%～100% divided into 6 grade with 20 as the interval,0%～100% divided into 4 grade,0%～100% divided into 2 grade,yes/no dichotomy format),using self-paced learning and experimenter-paced learning format,investigated the role of cognitive switch in delayed JOL and the effect on reactivity effect.Results showed that in the delayed JOL without time pressure,the more precise quantitative scale showed finer promotion on memory retention,and cognitive switch facilitated the positive reactivity effect(Experiment 7a,experiment 7b).In the situation with time pressure,dichotomy assessment was more helpful to improve memory performance,and cognitive switch inhibited the positive reactivity effect(Experiment 8).Study 4 examined the role of familiarity and recollection in the reactivity effect by controlling the reaction time during delayed JOL and using standard recognition paradigm and R/K paradigm.Results showed that delayed JOL based on familiarity did not improve memory performance.Compared with familiarity-based delayed JOL,the contribution of recollection-based delayed JOL to positive reactivity effect was more stable(Experiment 9 and experiment 10).According to the results mentioned above,some main conclusions of this study were drawn as below:(1)Delayed JOL can not only promote the short-term memory retention,but also the long-term retention.The promoting effect of delayed JOL on memory retention is stable over time.That is,the reactivity effect of delayed JOL is positive and robust.(2)The reactivity effect is experimentally separated based on the success or failure of the retrieval attempt during delayed JOL.Specifically,the items that successfully retrieved showed a positive reactivity effect,and the items which failed to retrieve did not show a positive reactivity effect,although their memory performance was not impaired.(3)The mechanism of delayed JOL on memory retention is different from covert retrieval attempt and overt retrieval attempt.The target word was searched fast and incomplete during delayed JOL.There may be a more efficient truncated search mode underlying delayed JOL.(4)There is a cognitive switch process that converts memory confidence into probability value in delayed JOL.The effect of cognitive switch on memory retention is modulated by time pressure.Under the situation without time pressure during delayed JOL,cognitive switch can facilitate the positive reactivity effect;when there is time pressure,complex cognitive switch inhibits the positive reactivity effect.(5)Familiarity and recollection,as the basis of delayed JOL,affect the reactivity effect in different ways.Items based on recollection process are easier to be successfully retrieval during delayed JOL.The contribution of recollection-based delayed JOL on positive reactivity effect is stable and predictable.In contrast,the influence of delayed JOL based on familiarity on reactivity effect is unstable.Recollection may plays a more critical role in positive and stable reactivity effect.The current research constructed a systematic theoretical framework to explain the mechanism of delayed JOL reactivity effect.The effects of successful retrieval attempt and failed retrieval attempt on memory retention during delayed JOL were separated,and it is clear that successful retrieval attempt was the key factor affecting positive reactivity effect.It is also found that the effect of cognitive switch on reactivity was modulated by time pressure.A functional separation hypothesis of delayed JOL was proposed,and the distinct mechanism when monitoring items with unequal retrieval strength was emphasized,which provided a new perspective for in-depth understanding of the relationship between metamemory monitoring and memory.