Do Judgments of Learning Impair Recall When Uninformative Cues are Salient?

Judgments of learning (JOLs) are a one of the most commonly used measures of meta-memory. There is mixed evidence that eliciting JOLs while participants are studying material influences their subsequent recall. A majority of studies have found that cues used in making the JOL (e.g. pair relatedness) determine the effect of JOLs on recall. Here, in three experiments JOL reactivity is examined in the presence of a salient, yet uninformative cue - font size. The results show that, when there are restrictions on study time, if font size is made salient, then eliciting JOLs impairs future recall. It is argued that JOLs prompt participants to evaluate salient cues in the learning environment in order to evaluate whether they will affect future recall. This increased processing of salient cues can impair recall if it comes at the expense of processing less salient but more informative cues. Implications for understanding JOL reactivity and the use of JOLs in metacognitive research are discussed.