The Priority Effect Of Value On Value-directed Metamemory

Value-directed metamemory allows individuals to choose more important informationto encode, preserve and retrieve in order to allocate their attention resources reasonablyand maximize their effective memory performance when they are exposed to someinformation with different value. Previous research has mainly focused on the differencesin value-directed metamomery between young and old people, as well as the impairment ofvalue-directed metamemory in Alzheimer’s disease and Attention-deficit/hyperactivitydisorder. However, there is little research concerning the factors affecting the level ofvalue-directed metamomery. Value-directed metamemory improves memory efficacy byemphasizing high-value information. Therefore, it is of great importance to explore thefactors promoting the Value-directed metamemory, such as the influence of value sequenceon Value-directed metamemory. Value sequence refers to the Spatial or temporal sequenceof value and words.In experiments1and2, a selectivity task were conducted to investigate the effect ofvalue superiority on Value-directed metamemory, namely whether there was a value-superiority effect: one was to measure the memory capacity (mean number of wordsrecalled), the other the memory efficiency/selectivity (the recall of high-value itemsrelative to low-value items is the selectivity index, or SI). Subjects were told that theywould be presented with six different lists of words, and that each list contained12words.They were informed that each word was paired with a number, and that this numberindicated how much the word was “worth.” They were told that the values ranged from1to12. Their tasks were to study and recall high-value words as many as possible in order tomaximize their score in the experiment. Two experiments were conducted with2(valuesequence:value-item/item-value)×3(value category: high-value/medium-value/low-value)within-subject factorial design.Experiment1explored that whether there was a value-superiority effect on SI inspatial sequence of words and value, and the results showed that the main effect of valuesequence was not significant on SI. Experiment2explored that whether there was a value-superiority effect on SI in temporal sequence of words and value, and the results showedthat value-word sequence produced a better value-directed metamemory, compared withword-value sequence when item and value were presented sequentially，and the diffidencereached a distinct level.In experiment3, we investigated whether the delaying of learning item would influencevalue-superiority effect on Value-directed metamemory, by using a selectivity task. Theexperiment was conducted with3(delay time interval：0s/1s/2s)×3(value category: high-value/medium-value/low-value) within-subject factorial design. The results suggestthat the time interval between value and item have an affect on value-superiority effect onValue-directed metamemory. In experiment4, using a selectivity task, we employedwhether item presentation time influence value-superiority effect on Value-directedmetamemory. The experiment were conducted with2(item presentation time:1.5s/4.5s)×3(value category: high-value/medium-value/low-value) within-subject factorial design.The results suggest that the value-superiority effect on Value-directed metamemory isinfluenced by item presentation time.The results of4experiments are as follows:1) there is no value-sequence effect whenvalue and words are presented spatially;2) there is a value-sequence effect when value andwords are presented temporally. To be specific, the priority of value improves the level ofvalue-directed metamemory, and the subjects could make use of the task experience toencode, retrieve and utilize high-value words more efficiently. By contrast, the subjects’value-directed metamemory is relatively stable on the “words-value” condition, and theyare not sensitive to updated task experience. In conclusion, our results reveal that there isan effect of value sequence on value-directed metamemory. The present findings not onlydemonstrate how to promote people’s metamemory during the learning process, but alsoextend the research method of value-directed metamemory;3) the delaying of learningtime interval and item presentation time have an affect on value-superiority effect onValue-directed metamemory.