Serial position effects involve the differential recall of information based on its temporal order at encoding. Previous research indicates that learners may be aware of these effects under certain encoding conditions, but it is unclear whether metacognitive control is sensitive to serial position effects. The current study examined whether there are serial position effects in participants’ study time and whether they can learn about serial position effects under fixed encoding conditions and then transfer what they have learned to self-paced study conditions. Specifically, participants were given lists of to-be-remembered words and studied each word for a fixed duration on initial lists, but self-paced their study time on later lists. Results revealed that self-paced study times oppositely mirrored serial position effects (i.e., briefer study times in the beginning and end of each list), and serial position effects were reduced in self-paced study conditions, particularly in participants initially studying under fixed conditions before self-pacing their study time. Specifically, participants may have monitored their output and, based on observations of forgetting middle items, transferred their learning of serial position effects from prior lists. Thus, participants may use forgetting and serial position information to guide encoding, indicating that fundamental properties of the memory system can be incorporated into the processes that guide metacognitive control.

序列位置效应涉及基于信息在编码时的时间顺序的差异召回。先前的研究表明，学习者可能会在某些编码条件下意识到这些影响，但尚不清楚元认知控制是否对连续位置效应敏感。目前的研究检查了参与者的学习时间是否存在序列位置效应，以及他们是否可以在固定编码条件下了解序列位置效应，然后将他们所学的知识转移到自定进度的学习条件下。具体来说，参与者被给予要记住的单词列表，并在初始列表中学习每个单词的固定时间，但在以后的列表中自行调整学习时间。结果表明，自定进度的学习时间相反地反映了连续位置效应（即，每个列表的开头和结尾的学习时间更短），并且在自定进度的学习条件下，连续位置效应降低，特别是在自定学习时间之前最初在固定条件下学习的参与者中。具体来说，参与者可能已经监控了他们的输出，并根据对遗忘中间项目的观察，将他们从先前列表中学习到的序列位置效应转移了出去。因此，参与者可能会使用遗忘和串行位置信息来指导编码，这表明记忆系统的基本特性可以纳入指导元认知控制的过程中。尤其是在自定学习时间之前，最初在固定条件下学习的参与者。具体来说，参与者可能已经监控了他们的输出，并根据对遗忘中间项目的观察，将他们从先前列表中学习到的序列位置效应转移了出去。因此，参与者可能会使用遗忘和串行位置信息来指导编码，这表明记忆系统的基本特性可以纳入指导元认知控制的过程中。尤其是在自定学习时间之前，最初在固定条件下学习的参与者。具体来说，参与者可能已经监控了他们的输出，并根据对遗忘中间项目的观察，将他们从先前列表中学习到的序列位置效应转移了出去。因此，参与者可能会使用遗忘和串行位置信息来指导编码，这表明记忆系统的基本特性可以纳入指导元认知控制的过程中。