ERIC Number: EJ1056512
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Jan
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Spacing Effect and Metacognitive Control
Mulligan, Neil W.; Peterson, Daniel J.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v40 n1 p306-311 Jan 2014
Research suggests that spaced learning, compared with massed learning, results in superior long-term retention (the spacing effect). Son (2010) identified a potentially important moderator of the spacing effect: metacognitive control. Specifically, when participants chose massed restudy but were instead forced to space the restudy, the spacing effect disappeared in adults (or was reduced in children). This suggests spacing is less effective (or possibly ineffective) if implemented against the wishes of the learner. A closer examination of this paradigm, however, reveals that item-selection issues might alternatively explain the disappearance of the spacing effect. In the current experiments, we replicated the original design demonstrating that an item-selection confound is operating. Furthermore, relative to a more appropriate baseline, the spacing effect was significant and of the same size whether participants' restudy choices were honored or violated. In this paradigm, metacognitive control does not appear to moderate the spacing effect.
Descriptors: Metacognition, Retention (Psychology), Item Analysis, Learning Processes, Comparative Analysis, Word Lists, Undergraduate Students, Task Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Scores
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: North Carolina
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A