title: In a year, memory will benefit from learning, tomorrow it won't: distance and construal level effects on the basis of metamemory judgments.
abstract: Metamemory judgments may rely on 2 bases of information: subjective experience and abstract theories about memory. On the basis of construal level theory, we predicted that psychological distance and construal level (i.e., concrete vs. abstract thinking) would have a qualitative impact on the relative reliance on these 2 bases: When considering learning from proximity or under a low-construal mindset, learners would rely more heavily on their experience, whereas when considering learning from a distance or under a high-construal mindset, they would rely more heavily on their abstract theories. Consistent with this prediction, results of 2 experiments revealed that temporal distance (Experiment 1) and construal level (Experiment 2) affected the stability bias--the failure to predict the benefits of learning. When considering learning from proximity or using a low-construal mindset, participants relied less heavily on their theory regarding the benefits of learning and were therefore insensitive to future learning. However, when considering learning from temporal distance or using a high-construal mindset, participants relied more heavily on their theory and were therefore better able to predict the benefits of future learning, thus overcoming the stability bias.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Haifa.
authors.forename: Vered
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Halamish
authors.forename: Ravit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nussinson
authors.forename: Liat
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ben-Ari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult