Processing fluency mediates the influence of perceptual information on monitoring learning of educationally relevant materials

Previous research has shown that perceptual characteristics of stimuli inaccurately bias assessments of perceived memorability. However, little research has investigated how perceptual information using real-world study materials affects study time allocation and assessments of future memory performance. In the current study, participants studied a series of terms and their corresponding definitions that varied on perceptual dimensions commonly used in educational material. When participants were allowed to control their own study time, font bolding (Experiment 1) and font size (Experiment 2), but not borders surrounding the text (Experiment 3), influenced judgments of learning despite having no effect on actual memory performance. Items that were processed more easily (as evidenced by study duration) consistently resulted in metacognitive monitoring biases, suggesting that encoding fluency may lead to inaccurate beliefs about one's own learning and future memory performance in educational settings.