Feeling of knowing in memory and problem solving.

Abstract

This study investigates feelings of knowing for problem solving and memory. In Experiment 1 subjects judged their feelings of knowing to trivia questions they had been unable to answer, then performed a multiple-choice recognition test In a second task, subjects gave feeling-of-knowing judgments for problems to which they did not immediately know the answers. Later, they were given 5 mia to solve each problem. In contrast to the positive correlation found in the memory task, the feeling-of-knowing rank ordering of insight problems did not relate to problem solution. Experiment 2 provided a replication of Experiment 1 with a generation memory technique rather than a multiplechoice recognition test. Both experiments showed that although people could predict memory performance reasonably well, predictive metacognitions were nonexistent for the problems. The data are interpreted as implying that insight problems do involve a sudden illumination, and that illumination cannot be predicted in advance.