This study investigated the effect of cue generation, both for oneself and for others, on recall performance and metacognitive monitoring within a two-person group memory task. Participants engaged in two experiments. In Experiment 1, they generated mnemonic cues for their own use, while in Experiment 2, they generated cues for the partner. Following cue generation, participants were asked to predict their own and their partners’ recall performance based on the cues. The main findings revealed that: 1) self-generated cues significantly enhanced participants’ own recall performance more than those generated for others, 2) cues tailored for others were more effective in boosting recall compared to self-generated cues, and 3) the participants showed greater accuracy in monitoring their own recall performance, whereas they tended to overestimate their partners’ recall performance. In conclusion, firstly, although the encoding process remains consistent regardless of cue recipient, the efficacy of cues in enhancing recall varies based on their origin, supporting the two-process hypothesis of mnemonic cue influence on recall. Secondly, after generating cues, individuals tend to rely heavily on encoding fluency for metacognitive monitoring, resulting in higher accuracy in self-monitoring but lower accuracy in monitoring others.
