Studying flashcards in pairs raised negative affect in Experiment 1, but not in Experiment 2, which added an icebreaker and relaxed feedback rules¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r3 · q3 · i0–i2
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 In Experiment 1, Paired learners reported significantly higher negative affect than Individual learners (d = 0.50). → Imundo 2024 q3 i0 In Experiment 2, after adding an icebreaker and allowing brief comments, negative affect no longer differed between conditions. → Imundo 2024 (2)

Evidence¶

Imundo 2024¶

Imundo, M. N., Zung, I., Whatley, M. C., & Pan, S. C. (2024). When Two Learners Are Better Than One: Using Flashcards with a Partner Improves Metacognitive Accuracy. Metacognition and Learning. https://link.springer.com/journal/11409/articles

q3 · i2 · causal · r3

Experiment 1's PANAS negative-affect subscale showed paired learners reported "significantly higher negative affect" than individual learners, d = 0.50, p = .003; positive affect did not differ between conditions.

"Those who studied in pairs, however, reported significantly higher negative affect (M = 16.93, SD = 6.54) than those who studied individually (M = 14.20, SD = 3.52), t (150) = -3.03, p = .003, d = 0.50, 95% CI [-4.51, -0.95]."

Imundo 2024 (2)¶

Imundo, M. N., Zung, I., Whatley, M. C., & Pan, S. C. (2024). When Two Learners Are Better Than One: Using Flashcards with a Partner Improves Metacognitive Accuracy. Metacognition and Learning. https://link.springer.com/journal/11409/articles

q3 · i0 · causal · r3

Experiment 2, which added a two-minute icebreaker and allowed brief comments between paired learners, found no condition difference in negative affect (d = -0.19, p = .26). The authors suggest it is possible that these procedural modifications reduced negative affect; the design did not isolate them as the cause.

"in contrast to Experiment 1, self-reported negative affect also did not differ between Individual learners (M = 14.73, SD = 4.41) and Paired learners (M = 15.54, SD = 3.99), t (130) = -1.13, p = .26, d = -0.19, 95% CI [-2.22, 6.61]."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Requiring overt retrieval eliminates the metacognitive calibration advantage of paired flashcard learning — related
• Individual and paired flashcard learning yield comparable final cued-recall test performance — related
• Paired flashcard learners drop far fewer flashcards from study than individual learners — related
• Individual learners complete more flashcard practice cycles than paired learners, though inconsistently across experiments — related
• Paired flashcard learners show more accurate immediate metacognitive calibration than individual learners, who overestimate by roughly 20% — related
• Global judgments of learning correlate moderately-to-strongly with final test performance in both individual and paired conditions — related
• In Experiment 3, individual learners showed greater forgetting over 24 hours than paired learners — related