Metamemory and Metacognition

Pretesting improves learning but learners need a push to appreciate it

In this episode of All Things Cognition, I interviewed Michelle Rivers and Steven Pan (pictured below) about their recent Psychonomic Society journal Memory & Cognition paper called “Metacognitive Awareness of the Pretesting Effect Improves with Self-Regulation Support.” In addition to talking about the benefits of pretesting (or prequestions) on learning, we also talked about other effective […]

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When you put it that way, I’ll remember it! Framing effects on memory for important information

Which steak would you prefer: one that is 25% fat, or one that is 75% lean? If you’re like the participants in a classic study by Irwin Levin, you’d pick the latter. This finding represents a framing effect, where equivalent information presented in different ways influences behavior. In this example, the steak labeled with a […]

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Do bounties make you more confident about how you perceive the world?

Here’s a disconcerting thought: what if the baggage screener at the airport – not that many of us are spending much time in airports these days – got paid a bonus for confidently flagging bags for additional inspection? In an ideal world, they would just assess bags based on the perceptual information they have from […]

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For a cognitive boost, offload it: Interview with Boldt and Gilbert

I met with Annika Boldt and Sam Gilbert (pictured below) to interview them about their paper recently published in the Psychonomic Society journal Cognitive Principles: Research and Implications called “Confidence guides spontaneous cognitive offloading.”  When we do something to minimize cognitive demands, we are offloading. This is especially common when we write notes and set alerts, for […]

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Mind-space continuum: A new framework for understanding theory of mind

In the late 1970s, a chimpanzee named Sarah watched a human named Keith struggle to complete simple tasks. When given various solutions, Sarah picked the solutions that would help Keith succeed in his tasks. In one task Keith attempted to grab for an unreachable object (see the left figure below). Sarah chose the option to […]

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To subitize or not to subitize: When people know how wrong they are counting blips

In some parts of New York state, it recently snowed 18 inches (~45 centimeters) following a major winter storm. With every hour, the snow piled higher and higher – but some of the increments in accumulation, especially toward the beginning, felt bigger, while others took longer to notice. You might even have the feeling that […]

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From zero to mayhem in 4 to 7 seconds: Memory and temporal preparation

The start of a Formula 1 Grand Prix is always exciting and adrenalin producing, even if you watch it on TV from thousands of miles away and keep the noise level below the pain threshold. (A Formula 1 cockpit is one of the loudest places on Earth.) Have a look at a start of a […]

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Porcine aviators’ attire: The indestructible causal rationality of magical worlds

Suppose your task is to design a stylish aviator outfit for pigs. How would you go about doing that? You might find it helpful to know that the 1616 edition of John Withals’s English-Latin dictionary, A Shorte Dictionarie for Yonge Begynners, notes that “Pigs fly in the ayre with their tayles forward.” So you might […]

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“Fuhgeddaboudit” if you can: When remembering may help you forget about a bad date

Have you ever had a day where nothing seemed to go according to plan? Maybe you had a flat tire, were caught in the rain, or maybe even a bad date? The type of day that feels like a page out of Judith Viorst’s, “Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day”. Click […]

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