Search fluency as a misleading measure of memory.

ABSTRACT

Retrieval fluency can affect the metacognitive judgments people make about their memory. In a study by Benjamin, Bjork, and Schwartz (1998), participants predicted they would be better able to recall the answers to questions they retrieved more quickly than the answers to questions they retrieved more slowly, despite actual performance going in the opposite direction. In the present study, we examined the effects of retrieval fluency in the context of the Internet. Results from 3 studies suggest that participants misattribute the time it takes to find information online as being a predictor of the likelihood of actually being able to recall that information from memory. This finding shows how the metacognitive effects of retrieval fluency can extend beyond the context of one's own memory to encompass interactions with transactive memory partners like the Internet. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).