Studies on long-term memory have shown that our subjective insight into memory performance is not always accurate; how well we think we remember something is affected by factors which are unrelated to how accurately we actually remember. Rather than being purely based on the strength of the memory trace, metamemory judgments may reflect participants’ experience of memory processes such as encoding and retrieval, or by factors such as perceived self-efficacy and task expectation.
Despite of the extensive literature on subjective aspects of long-term memory, the study of how working memory content is consciously experienced and evaluated is still in its infancy. While it is generally believed that working memory contents are accurately available for conscious inspection, there is evidence to indicate that this may not always be the case; our conscious insight into and experience of our working memory content might not be, in some conditions, as direct and accurate as traditionally believed. For example, factors such as memory load or the presence of distracting information may differentially affect memory accuracy and subjective experience. Many open questions exist, such as: on which information are metacognitive/introspective judgments based? What is the role of attention in metacognition? How is WM metacognition affected in neuropsychological disorders? And what are the neural mechanisms underlying these processes?
This Research Topic will address this emerging field from a multidisciplinary perspective. We encourage researchers to submit new empirical work, as well as theoretical papers and commentaries. Both behavioral and neuroimaging/stimulation research is welcome.
Studies on long-term memory have shown that our subjective insight into memory performance is not always accurate; how well we think we remember something is affected by factors which are unrelated to how accurately we actually remember. Rather than being purely based on the strength of the memory trace, metamemory judgments may reflect participants’ experience of memory processes such as encoding and retrieval, or by factors such as perceived self-efficacy and task expectation.
Despite of the extensive literature on subjective aspects of long-term memory, the study of how working memory content is consciously experienced and evaluated is still in its infancy. While it is generally believed that working memory contents are accurately available for conscious inspection, there is evidence to indicate that this may not always be the case; our conscious insight into and experience of our working memory content might not be, in some conditions, as direct and accurate as traditionally believed. For example, factors such as memory load or the presence of distracting information may differentially affect memory accuracy and subjective experience. Many open questions exist, such as: on which information are metacognitive/introspective judgments based? What is the role of attention in metacognition? How is WM metacognition affected in neuropsychological disorders? And what are the neural mechanisms underlying these processes?
This Research Topic will address this emerging field from a multidisciplinary perspective. We encourage researchers to submit new empirical work, as well as theoretical papers and commentaries. Both behavioral and neuroimaging/stimulation research is welcome.
