On Metamemory-Memory Relationship: Strategy Availability and Training

In the present study, a metamemory assessment procedure measuring a general level of metamemory was proposed. The procedure used a storyplot type of structure. On the basis of the metamemory score, different age group children were divided into high and low metamemory subgroups. In Experiment 1, the performance of high metamemory and low metamemory children differed significantly when the demand of the memory task fell within children's knowledge of memory, supporting the validity of the procedure. It did not differ in Experiment 2, when the memory task required the use of a more sophisticated strategy, where knowledge was not tapped through the metamemory task. Moreover, while telling children which strategy had to be used did not differentiate the performance of the two metamemory groups, giving children a practice training on the use of the strategy (Experiment 3) differentiated high and low metamemory children in terms of their ability to generalise the use of the strategy through a near-transfer memory task.