Are restudy decisions reactively altered by judgments of learning? Insights from related and unrelated word pairs

Recent research shows that predicting one’s own future memory during learning (immediate judgments of learning, JOLs) can enhance memory for related word pairs and reduce memory for unrelated word pairs. It is an open question, however, whether reactive effects of immediate JOLs on memory performance are related to changes in people’s study behavior. The present study addresses this gap by examining whether the requirement to provide JOLs alters restudy decisions. In two preregistered experiments (Experiment 1a: N = 140, Experiment 1b: N = 202), participants provided JOLs or did not provide JOLs during the study of related and unrelated word pairs, made restudy decisions for all studied word pairs, and completed a cued-recall test. Results revealed no reactivity for related word pairs but negative reactivity for unrelated word pairs. Importantly, restudy decisions for related and unrelated word pairs did not differ reliably depending on the requirement to provide JOLs. Overall, the present findings indicate that immediate JOLs may not have reactive effects on metacognitive control decisions and imply that changes in restudy decisions assessed during learning may not underlie negative reactivity of immediate JOLs for unrelated word pairs, thus questioning the adequacy of the changed-goal account as an explanation of detrimental effects of JOLs on memory performance.