This data collection comprises seven experimental studies that assesses the effects of self-referential cues (e.g., the personal pronoun ‘you’) on children’s learning and processing. There are three experiments focused on numeracy processing in word problems, three experiments looking at literacy processing in close reading tasks, and a final experiment exploring the learning of new information. In the numeracy experiments, we presented 7- to 11-year-old children with arithmetic word problems (e.g., “Eve has 5 apples. Jane has 2 apples more than Eve. How many marbles does Eve have?”), half of which replaced one character name with the self-referent pronoun ‘you’. In the first two experiments, we found that when problems included the self-referent pronoun, they tended to elicit faster and more accurate responses from children. Further, these effects were most pronounced in difficult conditions (e.g., in subtraction rather than addition problems, and when wording is inconsistent rather than consistent with the operation required). We followed up these behavioural experiments with an eye-tracking study, monitoring the length of time that gaze was fixated on specific words within the mathematical word problems. Fixation times showed that children spent significantly less time looking at self-referent pronouns than those referring to another person. This suggests that the effects of self-referent pronouns arise because self-cues facilitate the processing of relevant information, reducing working memory load in problem-solving. In the literacy studies, we tested the effects of self-pronouns on text processing in 9- to 11-year-old children, in the context of close reading tasks. Across three experiments, we trialled different types of passages and questions, different numbers of characters, and different positions of the self-pronoun, as well as presenting questions with the close reading text present or absent onscreen. Findings were mixed, with some initial evidence that self-pronouns improved children’s engagement, especially when positioned first. However, these effects have not been found consistently across experiments and conditions, suggesting that self-cues are not a reliable method of enhancing performance on close reading literacy tasks. Finally, in our learning study we tested the effects of three encoding conditions on 9- to 11-year-old children’s ability to remember new second language vocabulary (Japanese kanji for common nouns). Participants practised the kanji by drawing them with another person, drawing them with themselves, or including them in a drawing of a relevant autobiographical memory. Participants’ memory for the kanji did not differ significantly across conditions. They then watched either a video conveying the educational value of self-referencing or a control video, before learning more kanji. Free recall data revealed an interaction, with the self-referencing video producing an advantage only for those previously asked to draw themselves without an autobiographical cue. These findings suggest that while self-referencing was not effective at enhancing learning, it has the potential to support memory when scaffolded. Together, these experiments suggest that including self-referent cues has mixed effects in educational contexts. For tasks that have a high working memory load such as numerical problem solving, self-cues can be very effective at enhancing task performance, reducing the processing demands of relevant information. However, for longer forms of processing such as close reading and learning tasks, self-referential cues and strategies did not reliably enhance performance above other techniques without scaffolding. This suggests that self-referencing cues should be applied in education, but only within specific contexts in which they can be used to ease the working memory load of difficult tasks.Children demonstrate learning by encoding and retrieving from memory. Therefore, it is essential that we understand the mechanisms that support memory and hence how we can support learning. The 'self-reference effect' (SRE) has shown that individuals are better at remembering information about themselves than information relating to others. Most research exploring the extent of the SRE has been conducted in a laboratory setting. To determine the benefits for learning, this project explores the potential uses of self-referencing in the classroom. In the project, SREs are examined across literacy processing, numeracy processing and learning tasks. Self-referencing manipulations are applied in text (e.g., using pronouns 'you' or 'I' instead of a character name) in close reading tasks and maths problems (e.g., You have 3 balls. Bob has 2 more balls than you. How many balls does Bob have?"), as well as learning new information (e.g., draw a picture of yourself with this Japanese kanji). The project aimed to provide systematic research into the efficacy of these manipulations, and to test their underlying mechanisms. Three potential mechanisms for the impact of self-referencing on learning have been proposed: the application of self-knowledge, attention and working memory load. The self-knowledge framework is a particularly extensive and accessible relative to other knowledge in memory, so can be used to enrich and organise new information, providing multiple routes to successful retrieval. However, there may also be an important role for attention and this has been explored to a lesser extent with regards to learning. Self-cues are difficult to ignore, and this may provide a mechanism whereby the children are engaged in the material to be learned for longer intervals. Finally, working memory, a type of short-term memory that encompasses both storage and processing, may also be affected by self-reference cues. For example, when personal pronouns are included in literacy and numeracy tasks, it reduces the number of referents or things to be remembered. This projects tests the effect of self-referencing on attentional capacity, working memory load, task engagement and memory support as a necessary step in the successful translation of self-referencing to the classroom. The experimental findings have been used to create resources for teachers and educators (see https://selflab.co.uk/education/).

All experiments conducted in person in schools. Lockdowns associated with the COVID pandemic led us to pilot online materials and testing sessions, but we found online data collection to be challenging with children so our reported data were all collected in person when schools permitted. The resultant time-pressures meant we used a combination of individual and small group testing, both of which were effective. Tasks were delivered using a combination of EPrime and Gorilla programmes and paper-based tasks, as follows: Numeracy i (Effects of tracking and position): Individual data collection using EPrime; Numeracy ii (Effects of difficulty): Small group data collection using Gorilla; Numeracy iii (Eye tracking study): Individual data collection using EPrime and Tobii; Literacy i (Effects of referent position): Small group data collection using Gorilla; Literacy ii (Effects of tracking): Small group data collection using Gorilla; Literacy iii (Effects of text presence): Individual data collection using Gorilla; Learning i (Effects of encoding condition): Small group data collection using paper-based tasks.