Adaptive and qualitative changes in encoding strategy with experience: evidence from the test expectancy method

Three experiments demonstrated undergraduate participants’ abilities to adaptively and qualitatively accommodate their encoding strategies to the demands of an upcoming test as they gained experience with the test format. Stimuli were lists of word pairs. Experiment 1 induced test expectancy of either cued recall (of targets given cues) or free recall (of targets only) across four study-test cycles of the same test format, then presented participants with a final critical cycle featuring either the expected or the unexpected test format. For final tests of both cued and free recall, participants who had expected that test format outperformed those who had not. This disordinal interaction pattern demonstrated not mere differences in effort based on anticipated test difficulty, but rather qualitative and appropriate differences in encoding strategies based on expected task demands. The specific ways in which strategies shifted were revealed by final associative and item recognition performance and by self-report data. Participants also came to appropriately modulate metacognitive monitoring (Experiment 2) and study-time allocation (Experiment 3) across study-test cycles. Encoding strategies used for cued versus free recall were characterized and evaluated, and an account was given to reconcile inconsistent prior findings from test expectancy studies.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2010

Author dc:creator

• Finley, Jason R.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Benjamin, Aaron S.

• metamemory
• encoding strategy
• study-time allocation
• metacognition
• self-regulated learning
• recall
• memory

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2010 Jason R. Finley

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/16217

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/16217