title: When knowing more means less: the effect of fan on metamemory judgments.
abstract: The authors used a "fan" paradigm (J. R. Anderson, 1974) to test the accessibility and competition models of metamemory using judgments of learning (JOLs). JOLs in this study reflect one's confidence level in subsequently recognizing newly learned material. The number of facts, or "fan," associated with JOL-queried concepts varied from 1 to 3 associates. Results of 3 experiments indicated that as the level of fan increased, the magnitude of JOLs decreased. This finding was observed even when the fan effect (i.e., slower recognition as number of facts increase) was attenuated on a verification task in 2 of the experiments by manipulating the organization of the multiple concepts. The results supported the competition hypothesis (T. A. Schreiber, 1998; T. A. Schreiber & D. L. Nelson, 1998) as an important determinant of JOLs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock 79409-2051, USA. mjmcguiretx@netscape.net
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Maki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011930:Reaction Time; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment