The effect of animacy on metamemory

Memory & Cognition
Ping LiWeijian Li

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the animacy quality of materials affects basic cognitive processes such as memory (i.e., animate stimuli are remembered better than are inanimate stimuli). This is referred to as the animacy effect. Little research has examined, however, whether this effect can be extended to higher cognitive processes such as metamemory. In the present studies, we investigated the influence of animacy on judgments of learning (JOLs) and the underlying basis of the animacy effect, namely, processing fluency and beliefs about the animacy effect. In Experiment 1, participants studied animate and inanimate words and made immediate JOLs. Results revealed that participants gave higher estimates for animate than they did for inanimate words. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we evaluated the contribution of processing fluency to the animacy effect either by measuring self-paced study time or by disrupting fluency by presenting half of the words in an easy or difficult font style. Results from both experiments indicated that processing fluency contributes minimally to the animacy effect. In questionnaire-based Experiment 3, participants estimated hypothetical participants would better remember the animate words than the inanim...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 21, 2019·Evolutionary Psychology : an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior·Yuchi ZhangWeijian Li
May 17, 2019·Memory·Laura MiethRaoul Bell
Dec 28, 2019·The Journal of General Psychology·Pedro S MendesPedro B Albuquerque
Jan 10, 2020·Memory & Cognition·Stephanie A KazanasEmily G O'Brien
Apr 11, 2021·Memory & Cognition·Janell R Blunt, Joshua E VanArsdall

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