Learnin’ ‘bout my generation? Evaluating the effects of generation on encoding, recall, and metamemory across study-test experiences

• We examined how encoding, recall, and metamemory shift across two study-test blocks.
• The generation effect disappeared across blocks, as in de Winstanley and Bjork (2004).
• However, experiencing the generation effect was not the cause of this disappearance.
• Instead, participants shifted their study strategy for taking fill-in-the-blank tests.
• Strategy reports and metamemory judgments were used to supplement our findings.

We explored how learning during an initial study-test experience with text materials shapes future encoding, recall, and metamemory. Differential recall of targets from generate and read sentences on a fill-in-the-blank test led participants to shift their encoding strategies such that differential recall was eliminated on a second study-test block using different materials. This shift was not contingent on experiencing a generation advantage on the first test: recall also improved across tests when groups studied and recalled only one target type, did not receive the initial test, or showed a null or negative generation effect on the initial test. Strategy reports suggest that a sentence-target linking strategy increased across tests. Importantly, metamemory measures failed to reveal awareness of differential performance for read and generate targets. Contrary to recent claims, then, our findings suggest that individuals can learn, perhaps even tacitly, to modify their study strategies based on an initial study experience.