Overlearning and the feeling of knowing.

Abstract

Previous research on the feeling of knowing for nonrecalled items has focused on the validity of the feeling of knowing as a predictor for subsequent performance but generally has overlooked the question of what factors the feeling of knowing might be based upon. We explored the hypothesis that one factor underlying the feeling of knowing is the degree of prior learning for the sought-after item. Undergraduates learned a list in which various items were acquired to a criterion of either one correct recall, two correct recalls, or four correct recalls. Four weeks later, the subjects had a recall-retention test, then rank ordered the nonrecalled items in terms of the relative feeling of knowing for each of the nonrecalled items, and finally had a recognition test on the nonrecalled items. A major finding (in addition to those summarized at the end of the article) was that the magnitude of the feeling of knowing for nonrecalled items increased with the degree of prior learning.