On the effects of external support on memory and metamemory

Abstract

Our ability to remember has long been aided by various supports in our environment. Although these supports are indeed helpful when available, compared to having expected no support, there is a memory cost of expecting external memory support. This dissertation presents a series of experiments that systematically examined this cost of expecting external memory support across a variety of conditions and contexts. Central to the dissertation is the proposed explanation for the memory cost: that it occurs because expecting external support leads to reduced efforts at committing the to-be-remembered information into internal memory—or study effort. Results do suggest that the costs to memory of expecting external support can be explained, at least in part, by this study effort hypothesis. But results also evidence memory costs of expecting external support that are not easily explained by reduced study effort. In exploring the influences of expecting external support on metamemory, results suggest that people have a general awareness of their performance ability with and without expected support. However, results also suggest areas of difficulty with respect to metacognitive awareness of performance, implying that metacognitive accuracy could be challenging when using external memory supports. In examining the memory cost of expecting external support across a variety of conditions and contexts, this dissertation provides further insights regarding our use of external memory supports and places the study effort hypothesis on solid footing as a partial explanation for the cost.