Memory and metamemory of word-pair learning : an electrophysiological investigation

摘要

This dissertation investigates two factors related to human learning and memory processes. The first factor is the testing effect: in comparison to repeatedly study learnt materials, repeated testing is known to be beneficial for future remembering. According to the episodic context account of the testing effect, this beneficial effect of testing is related to a process which reinstates the previously learnt episodic information. The second factor is the delayed judgment of learning (JOL) effect: the metacognitive judgment is more accurate in predicting later remembering when there is a temporal delay between the learning and the judgment than without. Following the cue-utilization account, the delayed JOL is based on the accessibility of the learnt materials whilst the immediate JOL is based on item-characteristics. It is hypothesized that there is a similar retrieval process engaged during testing and/ or during a delayed JOL which enhances the memory performance or the prediction of its accuracy. The neural correlates of testing and JOLs were examined using the electrophysiological method. In the current study, word-pair learning was used as an example of learning and memory: Swahili-German word pairs in the testing experiment (Chapter 2) and German-German semantically-related word pairs in the JOL experiment (Chapter 3). The results showed that the event-related potential (ERP) of the immediate retrieval at testing resembles the ones of the subsequent remembering. However, the ERP of the delayed JOL did not show a similar pattern. In summary, the current data did not support the hypothesis that the similar mechanisms underlie the testing and the delayed JOL effects.