ERIC Number: EJ780426
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jan
Pages: 16
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0749-596X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
How Metastrategic Considerations Influence the Selection of Frequency Estimation Strategies
Brown, Norman R.
Journal of Memory and Language, v58 n1 p3-18 Jan 2008
Prior research indicates that enumeration-based frequency estimation strategies become increasingly common as memory for relevant event instances improves and that moderate levels of context memory are associated with moderate rates of enumeration [Brown, N. R. (1995). Estimation strategies and the judgment of event frequency. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 1539-1553; Brown, N. R. (1997). Context memory and the selection of frequency estimation strategies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23, 898-914]. Two experiments, one an RT study, the second a protocol study, were conducted to determine what happens to when context memory is very good. Both compared an exemplar-generation condition to a non-generation condition. As expected, generation improved context memory and reduced estimation bias. Importantly, Experiment-1 RTs increased with frequency at the same rate in both conditions, which implied that generation had no effect on enumeration. Experiment-2 protocols provided converging evidence for this conclusion as enumeration rates were equal across conditions. These findings are consistent with a metastrategic account of strategy selection; on this view, people mix enumerated and non-enumerated responses in a way that optimizes performance at the task level rather than the trial level.
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

Peer reviewed
Direct link
