Do Judgments of Learning Modify Older Adults' Actual Learning?

Judgments of learning (JOLs) can improve younger adults' associative learning of related information. One theoretical explanation for this finding is that JOLs strengthen the relationship between the cue and target words of a related word pair. This cue-strengthening hypothesis is particularly relevant for older adults because learning interventions that enhance associations between items typically benefit their learning. Thus, we investigated the degree to which JOLs have a direct influence on older adults' learning. To do so, older and younger adults studied a list of related word pairs (Experiments 1 and 2) or weakly related word pairs (Experiments 3, 4, and 5). Half of the participants made JOL for each pair and half did not. After a filled 3-min retention interval, participants took a cued-recall test. In all experiments, older adults' memory performance was not impacted by making JOLs. By contrast, younger adults who made JOLs recalled significantly more than those who did not. JOLs may not have modified older adults' learning because of age-related deficits in processing that limited the degree to which JOLs strengthened cue-target relationships. It is also possible that JOLs encourage attentional reorienting. which older adults do not benefit from because they are already engaged with the materials. An important direction for future work will be to explore these possibilities, as well as others.