Three experiments examined metamemory for categorized lists of items. Judgm
ents of learning (JOLs) were obtained from college students either immediat
ely after study or following a brief (at least 30-s) delay. In contrast to
past findings (e.g., T.O. Nelson & J. Dunlosky, 1991), no advantage was fou
nd for delayed JOLs in Experiment I, using a standard, prediction-based met
amemory cue. In Experiment 2, knowledge-based judgments were elicited, and
delayed JOL accuracy improved significantly. The relative efficacy of 4 dif
ferent metamemory cues was examined in Experiment 3. An interaction between
the timing and phrasing of JOL cues was detected: Delayed JOLs were more a
ccurate than immediate JOLs only when knowledge-based cues were used. These
results are interpreted in A. Koriat's (1997) cue-utilization framework fo
r JOL accuracy, and they show that the phrasing of metamemory cues can have
a substantial impact on monitoring accuracy.