Training maintenance and generalization of an organizational strategy for memory
In order to compare the effectiveness of several metamemory training procedures on maintenance and generalization of a category organization strategy, second-grade children were randomly assigned to a control group or one of three strategy training conditions. Trained subject received instruction in strategy use along with (i) Implicit Metamemory Training (IMT) (ii) Explicit Metamemory Training (EMT) or (iii) Strategy training without metamemory training (IMTC). Following a baseline trial on which groups did not differ, two training/practice trials were given. Strategy maintenance was assessed on a fourth trial. Strategy generalization was measured, one week later, using a different task. On the maintenance trial, the 3 trained groups were significantly higher than the control group in metamemory, category grouping and recall performance. In addition, the IMT and EMT groups showed significantly greater metamemorial awareness, category grouping, recall organization, and recall performance than the IMTC group. On the generalization trial, the three trained groups showed significantly greater metamemory, category grouping, recall organization, and recall performance than controls. Thus, explicit and implicit metamemory instruction were equally effective at maintenance and generalization, while specific strategy training (IMTC) produced a lesser degree of performance improvement. A model linking metamemory, strategic behaviour, and memory task performance is proposed