A novel paradigm for manipulating judgments of learning without altering lower-level properties of visual stimuli

Judgments of learning (JOLs) is a crucial cognitive function that helps individuals evaluate their learning effectiveness with specific materials. Previous research indicates that participants often base JOLs on perceptual fluency of the learning materials. However, changing perceptual fluency to manipulate JOLs can introduce confounding variables by altering the materials' lower-level properties. To address this issue, we developed a novel experimental paradigm that distorts participants' prior beliefs about memory tasks. This approach allows for manipulating JOLs without affecting the materials' perceptual fluency or lower-level properties. Our validation of this paradigm demonstrates that it effectively influences how participants allocate their study time across different conditions, reflecting varying levels of trial-by-trial JOLs.