The Effect of Choice on Memory for Studied Materials

Abstract

The ability to choose what to study can shape how well information is remembered, with self-chosen material often showing a memory advantage over assigned material. The current research investigated whether this effect extends to different types of educationally relevant material. In Experiment 1, participants either chose one of three stories to study (choice condition) or were assigned a story yoked to a choice participant (no choice condition). Participants reported their satisfaction with the chosen or assigned story and answered a judgment of learning question before completing 10 cued recall questions for each story, repeated for a total of three stories. Choice did not significantly improve recall of story details, and choice satisfaction did not predict memory. However, higher JOLs were associated with better recall. Experiment 2 tested for an effect of choice on factual information. Participants rated their interest in different topics and either selected a topic to study an associated fact (choice condition) or were assigned a topic (no choice condition). Recognition memory for facts related to each topic revealed a significant benefit for chosen topics, with topic preferences also predicting recognition responses. Together, these results suggest that the impact of choice on memory is dependent on the material type and retrieval task. These findings highlight how allowing learners to select study material can guide engagement and attention, with practical applications for educational settings.