Generation failure: Estimating metacognition in cued recall

Three experiments examined generation, recognition, and response bias in the original encoding-specificity paradigm using the type 2 signal-detection analysis advocated by Higham (2002). Experiments 1 (pure-list design) and 2 (mixed-list design) indicated that some guidance regarding the strength of the associative relationship between the test cue and target greatly improved strong-cue target production relative to no guidance, and that this effect was attributable to improved generation, as well as recognition. Problems with generating candidates for response during standard cued recall was further shown in Experiment 3, where despite having the opportunity to provide multiple responses for each cue, participants’ ability to produce the targets remained poor. The results are discussed in terms of traditional and modern generate-recognize theory, metacognition, and dual-route models of recall.