Is Metamemory Judgements Reactivity a Topic Worth Investigating? An Overview of Literature and Future Directions

Judgements of learning (JOLs) are commonly used in metacognitive research to assess a person’s ability to monitor their learning. However, despite the widespread use of this type of self-reported measure, only recently have metacognitive researchers become interested in investigating its potential reactive effects in a proper empirical manner, via directly addressing the question whether the sole act of systematically monitoring memory influences memory performance. The issue of possible reactive JOL effects has been raised since the early days of metamemory monitoring research, but has taken a completely new direction in the lately emerging studies—from issuing warnings about JOL reactivity as a potential limitation, to dedicating entire series of experiments to uncover the principles behind certain reactivity patterns, and its potential moderators. More research is needed on educationally relevant materials to determine whether JOL reactivity can be utilised in educational contexts. Finally, this phenomenon, as shown in the performed literature overview, leads to important theoretical implications reflected in the four hypotheses explaining the reactivity effect.