Metamory Research Paper

Metamemory: A Brief Review Of The Construct And Research Studies

Murshida Khatoon, Dr. Debdulal Dutta Roy

Indian Statistical Institute

Abstract Given the huge accumulation of research and the information gained about the various memory processes, researchers have now turned towards investigating how individuals monitor and control these processes and what beliefs and knowledge do people have regarding their own memory. This is what metamemory entails. The influence of judgements about one’s own memory on actual memory performance across different ages and clinical groups, is another arena that is being investigated in metamemory research. The present report is an attempt to briefly outline the basic concepts underlying metamemory;

Considered as a part of the broader topic called metacognition (monitoring one’s own cognitive processes), it differs from it in that it involves the knowledge of, monitoring of, and control of one’s own learning and memory processes, whereas, metacognition is an umbrella term that entails the self-knowledge about all cognitive processes such as memory, attention, reasoning, decision making, etc. Thus, it follows that all metamemory judgements are essentially metacognitive, but all metacognitive judgements are not metamemory judgements. For example, making judgements about the time to be allotted or required to learn something, the level of confidence about retrieving information from memory, or about the ease with which information can be encoded, general beliefs about one’s own memory functions and capacities all come in the purview of metamemory. Although considered to be dependent critically on memory, metamemory has different connotations to it. It has been referred to as the assessments or commentaries that are made about learning and memory (Metcalfe & Dunlosky, 2008). It basically pertains to the self-awareness about one’s own memory structures and

According to this model, metacognition entails two mental levels: the object level and a meta-level. There is a hierarchical flow of information, with meta level acquiring information from the object level and sending information to, and thereby altering the object level. These two processes correspond to “monitoring” and “controlling” (of cognitive processes) respectively. In the case of metamemory, the object level involves the memory itself and the meta-level involves the monitoring of those memories, as in reflecting upon those memories or the ongoing learning. Figure I shows the interactive model of metacognition with the meta level monitoring as well as controlling the object