Electrodermal activity (EDA), an indicator of arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, was investigated as a potential correlate of feeling-of-knowing (FOK) and tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states. In Experiment 1, skin conductance was measured while participants answered general knowledge questions and made binary FOK and TOT judgments. Significant correlations were found between frequency of skin conductance responses (SCRs) and presence of both FOK and TOT states. In Experiment 2, warmth ratings were used and a follow-up clue session was added to offer participants the opportunity to resolve initially unanswered questions. SCR frequency during TOT states was significantly predictive of resolution during the clue period, although not as predictive as participants' warmth ratings. The potential of EDA as an on-line, non-intrusive measure of metamemory and memory retrieval is discussed.

Electrodermal activity (EDA), an indicator of arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, was investigated as a potential correlate of feeling-of-knowing (FOK) and tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states. In Experiment 1, skin conductance was measured while participants answered general knowledge questions and made binary FOK and TOT judgments. Significant correlations were found between frequency of skin conductance responses (SCRs) and presence of both FOK and TOT states. In Experiment 2, warmth ratings were used and a follow-up clue session was added to offer participants the opportunity to resolve initially unanswered questions. SCR frequency during TOT states was significantly predictive of resolution during the clue period, although not as predictive as participants' warmth ratings. The potential of EDA as an on-line, non-intrusive measure of metamemory and memory retrieval is discussed.

Research has examined how encoding or retrieval factors affect metamemory. Few studies have manipulated both an encoding and a retrieval factor in the same paradigm. The current experiments examined which factor had a greater impact on metamemory when both were manipulated. Attention was manipulated during encoding and Retroactive Interference was manipulated at retrieval.Two lists of word pairs were studied, with the second list including both new pairs and cues from the first list re-paired with a new target. The attention manipulation occurred when studying the first list in which participants denoted when one tone sequence changed to another. Participants gave predictions about the likelihood of future recall of the original targets either immediately following study (JOL) or in a separate phase after studying all pairs (DJOL). The Modified Opposition Test (MOT) was used in which a hint was used to direct participants to the correct list for recall. After all pairs were studied and predicted, participants completed a cued-recall test. In Experiment 1, DJOLs were used because they are collected between encoding and retrieval. Both factors impacted memory, but DJOLs were only impacted by the retrieval factor. A dissociation between memory and metamemory under retroactive interference was expected and replicates prior research (Eakin, 2005). In Experiment 2, JOLs were added; JOLs are measured during the encoding phase, allowing the impact of the encoding factor to be observed. Replicating Experiment 1, memory was affected by both the encoding and retrieval factor, but JOLs were impacted by the retrieval factor. Another comparison using a standard cued-recall test instead of the MOT, showed that JOLs were no longer influenced by the retrieval factor, but they still did not vary with attention. The results conclusively suggest that metamemory was not based on encoding factors, even when the retrieval factor is not influencing the predictions. Koriat’s (1993, 1994) accessibility heuristic can explain these results. Predictions were based on how much information came to mind when the prediction is made, regardless of whether that information is correct. Furthermore, metamemory predictions are based on heuristics that do not always follow memory outcomes.

Older adults (OAs) typically experience memory failures as they age. However, with some exceptions, studies of OAs’ ability to assess their own memory functions– Metamemory (MM)– find little evidence that this function is susceptible to age-related decline. Our study examines OAs’ and young adults’ (YAs) MM performance and strategy use. Groups of YAs (N = 138) and OAs (N = 79) performed a MM task that required participants to place bets on how likely they were to remember words in a list. Our analytical approach includes hierarchical clustering, and we introduce a new measure of MM—the modified Brier—in order to adjust for di↵erences in scale usage between participants. Our data indicate that OAs and YAs di↵er in the strategies they use to assess their memory and in how well their MM matches with memory performance. However, there was no evidence that the chosen strategies were associated with di↵erences in MM match, indicating that there are multiple strategies that might be e↵ective (i.e. lead to similar match) in this MM task.

Memory impairment in Schizophrenia (SCZ) is robust and associated with poor functional outcome. However, these correlations are only moderate in magnitude, leading some researchers to propose that metamemory deficits may also underpin poor memory performance and related functional deficits in this population. The purpose of this dissertation was to assess various aspects of metamemory performance among persons with SCZ. The studies are organized along a temporal continuum of metamemory processes, operating from retrieval to output. Study 1 evaluated whether persons with SCZ control retrieval by re-instating the processing mode employed at encoding (i.e., source-constrained retrieval). Participants studied words under deep or shallow conditions and then completed two recognition tests – a standard test followed by the memory-for-foils test (i.e., foils from the first test become targets on the second test). Only HCs in the deep encoding condition exhibited superior memory for foils, suggesting diminished source-constrained retrieval among persons with SCZ. In study 2, criterion setting and adjusting was investigated by altering the relative distinctiveness between lures and targets on two separate recognition tests. Persons with SCZ set a stricter criterion but adjusted it appropriately in response to lure distinctiveness (i.e., difficulty). In study 3, the strategic regulation of response granularity (i.e., from fine [e.g., 1:20 pm] to coarse [e.g. afternoon] was investigated by manipulating monetary incentives and penalties. Results show that persons with SCZ are overconfident in their memories and impaired in modulating granularity. Collectively these studies suggest a pattern of both intact and deficient metamemory skills characterize persons with SCZ. Possible underlying mechanisms and functional implications of this pattern are discussed.

Memory impairment in Schizophrenia (SCZ) is robust and associated with poor functional outcome. However, these correlations are only moderate in magnitude, leading some researchers to propose that metamemory deficits may also underpin poor memory performance and related functional deficits in this population. The purpose of this dissertation was to assess various aspects of metamemory performance among persons with SCZ. The studies are organized along a temporal continuum of metamemory processes, operating from retrieval to output. Study 1 evaluated whether persons with SCZ control retrieval by re-instating the processing mode employed at encoding (i.e., source-constrained retrieval). Participants studied words under deep or shallow conditions and then completed two recognition tests – a standard test followed by the memory-for-foils test (i.e., foils from the first test become targets on the second test). Only HCs in the deep encoding condition exhibited superior memory for foils, suggesting diminished source-constrained retrieval among persons with SCZ. In study 2, criterion setting and adjusting was investigated by altering the relative distinctiveness between lures and targets on two separate recognition tests. Persons with SCZ set a stricter criterion but adjusted it appropriately in response to lure distinctiveness (i.e., difficulty). In study 3, the strategic regulation of response granularity (i.e., from fine [e.g., 1:20 pm] to coarse [e.g. afternoon] was investigated by manipulating monetary incentives and penalties. Results show that persons with SCZ are overconfident in their memories and impaired in modulating granularity. Collectively these studies suggest a pattern of both intact and deficient metamemory skills characterize persons with SCZ. Possible underlying mechanisms and functional implications of this pattern are discussed.

Metamemory is a person’s knowledge about their own memory. Metamemory judgments are sometimes accurate and sometimes not. Eakin (2005) found a dissociation between metamemory predictions and memory performance under conditions of retroactive interference and attributed this dissociation to the accessibility heuristic. This study investigated whether the accessibility heuristic would be used to make metamemory predictions in the more complex context of the eyewitness memory paradigm. The results indicate that the accessibility heuristic was used to make metamamory predictions. Memory performance was better for control than misled critical items, but people predicted they would perform equally well in both conditions. It appears that in the less austere context of the eyewitness memory paradigm, the amount of information accessible for control and misled items was equal, and therefore, metamemory judgments were equal for control and misled items.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of a memory and metamemory training program on memory performance and metamemory judgement accuracy in adults with a closed head injury. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used with six subjects. All subjects were seen at least two years post-injury. Training included general metamemory information about the nature of memory, use of a specific memory strategy to assist verbal recall (to Preview, Question, Read, State and Test- PQRST), specific metamemory information about the strategy, and a self instruction procedure (WTSC- What is the task, Select a strategy to use, Try out strategy, Check to evaluate strategy effectiveness). During the training period all subjects recalled greater than fifty percent of paragraph ideas while using PQRST. Follow-up tests showed that five of the six subjects maintained recall levels but a gradual decrease in slope was observed over eight weeks post-training. Tests of recall, recognition and metamemory judgements on Sentence and Action Tasks were used to evaluate generalisation of training. Two subjects showed improved recall and two subjects showed improved recognition performance. In addition, four subjects demonstrated greater metamemory judgement accuracy about recognition performance following training. Improved performance post-training was also observed for three subjects on the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test and the Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, greater than that expected for repeated testing. Several factors were identified as having a role in subjects’ ability to benefit from training.

Metamemory is “knowing about knowing” (Flavell, 1971) and is theorized as a cognitive process that monitors and controls the memory system (Flavell & Wellman, 1975; Nelson & Narens, 1990). The predominate finding in the metamemory and aging literature is that metamemory is unimpaired by aging, even when memory is impaired by aging (Eakin & Hertzog, 2006; 2012; Connor, Hertzog, & Dunlosky, 1997; Hertzog, Sinclair, & Dunlosky, 2010; Eakin, Hertzog, & Harris, 2014, but see Souchay, Moulin, Clarys, Taconnat, & Isingrini, 2007). However, a study examining metamemory for emotional words suggests older adults may show metamemory impairment when predicting memory for emotional words (Tauber & Dunlosky, 2012). This finding challenges the supposition that metamemory is unimpaired with aging. The purpose of the current study was to expand on the results from Tauber and Dunlosky (2012) to determine whether their findings were due to methodological issues rather than age-related deficits in metamemory.

Older adults' ability to make accurate metamemory judgments indicates that aging spares metamemory (Eakin & Hertzog, 2006; 2012a; but see Souchay et al., 2006). However, age differences in metamemory accuracy for emotional information, particularly lists of positive and neutral words, indicate potential age-related impairment of metamemory (Tauber & Dunlosky, 2012; Flurry & Eakin, manuscript in preparation). These age differences may be explained by potential cue overshadowing effects (Price & Yates, 1993) in which older adults primarily used the salient cue, emotional valence, and overlooked additional cues that were diagnostic of memory. We hypothesized that age differences in metamemory for emotional words may be eliminated when older adults have a second salient and diagnostic cue to inform judgments of learning (JOLs). We manipulated multiple cues, emotional valence and endorsement (Craik & Tulving, 1975), using a category inclusion task in which participants responded "yes" or "no" to endorse positive words (e.g. "champion") or neutral words (e.g. "sphere") as category members (e.g. "is an achievement"). Age comparisons in free recall and JOL magnitude between levels of emotional valence (positive, neutral) and levels of endorsement (yes, no) indicate that both younger and older adults' JOL magnitudes responded to emotional valence and endorsement effects in which memory was higher for positive than neutral words, and "yes" versus "no" words. JOL accuracy results demonstrate that both age groups' JOLs were significantly accurate above chance within each level of valence and endorsement. Age comparisons in JOL accuracy suggest that including a second salient cue eliminated previously reported age differences in metamemory for positive and neutral words. These results demonstrate that older adults can use multiple cues to make accurate JOLs in the presence of a salient cue. This finding supports a conclusion that previously reported age differences in metamemory for emotional words can be attributed to cue overshadowing effects that diminished older adults' ability to use multiple cues. This conclusion has implications on the aging and metamemory literature such that additional age differences reported in episodic metamemory may also be attributed to conditions that hindered multiple cue use by older adults.