The interactive effects of task difficulty and learning environment on self-regulated learning

Prompts are widely used to facilitate self-regulated learning (SRL), yet empirical findings on their effectiveness remain inconsistent. This study aimed to clarify the contextual conditions under which prompting enhances learning by examining the interactive effects of SRL ability, learning environment, and task difficulty. Using a 2 (learning environment: text, multimedia) × 2 (SRL level: high, low) × 2 (group: prompted, non-prompted) × 3 (test difficulty: easy, medium, difficult) mixed experimental design, data from 110 university students were analyzed using four-way repeated-measures ANOVAs. Accuracy (ACC) and reaction time (RT) were examined as complementary indicators of immediate post-test performance and processing efficiency. Results showed that prompting did not significantly affect ACC. For ACC, significant effects were found only for test difficulty and the interaction between learning environment and test difficulty. In contrast, prompt-related differences emerged in the RT analysis, suggesting that prompts may be associated with processing efficiency rather than direct improvements in accuracy. Moreover, learning environment interacted with task difficulty: multimedia materials led to shorter reaction times at moderate difficulty but longer reaction times at both easy and difficult levels. The findings highlight that the effectiveness of instructional prompts is not universal but conditional.