When the number of remember, forget, and unselected words was equated, words predicted to be forgotten were recalled similarly to unselected words¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q3 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i0 In Experiment 2, recall was similar for words expected to be forgotten and words not selected (d = 0.06), though both were recalled well above zero. → Dillon H. Murphy 2023

Evidence¶

Dillon H. Murphy 2023¶

Dillon H. Murphy, Vered Halamish, Matthew G. Rhodes, & Alan D. Castel. (2023). How evaluating memorability can lead to Unintended Consequences. Metacognition and Learning (2023) 18:375–403. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-023-09332-3

q3 · i0 · causal · r1

Experiment 2 with 50 undergraduates studied 18-word lists, selecting six remember and six forget words, leaving six unselected. Forget words (M = 0.38) and unselected words (M = 0.36) did not differ; "[ pholm = 0.679, d = 0.06]".

"However, recall was similar for the words expected to be forgotten and words not selected as to be remembered or forgotten [ pholm = 0.679, d = 0.06]."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Judging words as likely to be forgotten enhanced their recall relative to unselected words under simultaneous presentation with fixed or self-paced study time — reports the opposite
• Words participants said they would remember were recalled earlier in output than words predicted to be forgotten or words not given a prediction — related
• Under sequential presentation with Likert ratings for every word, no memory benefit emerged for items judged likely to be forgotten; negative ratings predicted the poorest recall — related
• Relative to random choice, a metacognitive judgment of remembering boosted recall while a judgment of forgetting was associated with a memory cost — related
• In self-cued directed forgetting, selected words were better recalled than unselected words regardless of whether they were designated to-be-remembered or to-be-forgotten — reports the opposite
• Merely selecting words by clicking on them, without any memorability instructions, enhanced their recall (a choice effect) — related