Research article summary (published 28 Feb 2008):

Metacognition and learning about primacy and recency effects in free recall: the utilization of intrinsic and extrinsic cues when making judgments of learning.

Full Abstract

Although memory researchers know about primacy and recency effects, it is unclear whether students are aware of these effects and incorporate them when making judgments of learning (JOLs). The present research examined how participants use serial position information (extrinsic cues) when making JOLs after studying each item and showed that participants rely on the intrinsic qualities of the items and underestimate primacy and recency effects. However, when participants made JOLs prior to studying each item and engaged in multiple study-test sessions, their JOLs accurately reflected recall, as well as when serial position information was explicitly provided during the study phase. The findings are interpreted in a cue utilization framework and suggest that under certain conditions, participants can predict primacy and recency effects.

Learn Faster Today      Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Castel, Alan D (AD);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563, USA. castel@ucla.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Memory & cognition (Mem Cognit), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Mar; vol 36 (issue 2) : pp 429-37

Dates: Created 2008/04/22; Completed 2008/06/05;

PMID: 18426071, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Adult Attention Cues Female Humans

Judgment Male Memory, Short-Term Mental Recall Serial Learning Verbal Learning

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• How many dimensions underlie judgments of learning and recall? Evidence from state-trace methodology. 30 Jul 2005
• Easy comes, easy goes? The link between learning and remembering and its exploitation in metacognition. 28 Feb 2008
• Serial position effects in free memory recall--An ERP-study. 25 Feb 2007
• Primacy and recency effects in immediate free recall of sequences of spatial positions. 29 Sep 2007
• Illusions of competence and overestimation of associative memory for identical items: evidence from judgments of learning. 30 Jan 2007
• Trial order and retention interval in human predictive judgment. 29 Nov 2005
• Order effects in contingency learning: the role of task complexity. 30 Mar 2006
• Primacy and recency effects in extinction and latent inhibition: a selective review with implications for models of learning. 29 May 2005
• Free recall in Williams syndrome: is there a dissociation between short- and long-term memory? 30 Mar 2006
• Evidence for attentional gradient in the serial position memory curve from event-related potentials. 29 Nov 2007

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.