Metacognition is an awareness of one's thought processes and an understanding of the patterns behind them. In simple terms it is "to think about one's own thinking". The term comes from the root word meta, meaning "beyond", or "on top of". Metacognition can take many forms, such as reflecting on one's ways of thinking, and knowing when and how oneself and others use particular strategies for problem-solving. There are generally two components of metacognition: (1) cognitive conceptions and (2) a cognitive regulation system. Research has shown that both components of metacognition play key roles in metaconceptual knowledge and learning. Metamemory, defined as knowing about memory and mnemonic strategies, is an important aspect of metacognition.
Writings on metacognition date back at least as far as two works by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC): On the Soul and the Parva Naturalia.
Definitions
This higher-level cognition was given the label metacognition by American developmental psychologist John H. Flavell (1979).
The term metacognition literally means 'above cognition' and denotes cognition about cognition, or, more informally, thinking about thinking. Flavell defined metacognition as knowledge about cognition and control of cognition. For example, a person is engaging in metacognition if they notice that they are having more trouble learning A than B, or if it strikes them that they should double-check C before accepting it as fact. J. H. Flavell (1976, p. 232). Andreas Demetriou's theory (one of the neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development) used the term hyper-cognition to refer to self-monitoring, self-representation, and self-regulation processes, which are regarded as integral components of the human mind. Moreover, with his colleagues, he showed that these processes participate in general intelligence, together with processing efficiency and reasoning, which have traditionally been considered to compose fluid intelligence.
Metacognition also involves thinking about one's own thinking processes, such as study skills, memory capabilities, and the ability to monitor learning. This concept needs to be explicitly taught alongside content instruction. A pithy statement from M.D. Gall et al. is often cited in this respect: "Learning how to learn cannot be left to students. It must be taught."
Metacognition is a general term encompassing the study of memory monitoring and self-regulation, meta-reasoning, consciousness/awareness, and autonoetic consciousness/self-awareness. In practice, these capacities are used to regulate one's own cognition, to maximize one's potential to think, learn, and to evaluate proper ethical/moral rules. It can also reduce response time in a given situation due to heightened awareness and potentially reduce the time to complete problems or tasks.
In the context of student metacognition, D. N. Perkins and Gavriel Salomon observe that metacognition concerns students' ability to monitor their progress. During this process, students ask questions like "What am I doing now?", "Is it getting me anywhere?", and "What else could I be doing instead?" Perkins and Salomon argue that such metacognitive practices help students to avoid unproductive approaches.
In the domain of experimental psychology, an influential distinction in metacognition (proposed by T. O. Nelson & L. Narens) is between Monitoring—making judgments about the strength of one's memories—and Control—using those judgments to guide behavior (in particular, to guide study choices). Dunlosky, Serra, and Baker (2007) covered this distinction in a review of metamemory research that focused on how findings from this domain can be applied to other areas of applied research.
In the domain of cognitive neuroscience, metacognitive monitoring and control have been viewed as a function of the prefrontal cortex, which receives (monitors) sensory signals from other cortical regions and implements control using feedback loops (see chapters by Schwartz & Bacon and Shimamura, in Dunlosky & Bjork, 2008).
Metacognition is studied in the domain of artificial intelligence and modelling. Therefore, it is the domain of interest of emergent systemics.
Concepts and models Metacognition has two interacting phenomena guided by a person's cognitive regulation:
Metacognitive knowledge (also called metacognitive awareness) is what individuals know about themselves and others, like beliefs about thinking and such, as cognitive processors. Metacognitive experiences are those experiences that have something to do with the current, ongoing cognitive endeavor.
Metacognition refers to a level of thinking and metacognitive regulation, the regulation of cognition and subsequent learning experiences that help people enhance their learning through a set of activities. It involves active metacognitive control or attention over the process in learning situations. The skills that aid in regulation involve planning how to approach a learning task, monitoring comprehension, and evaluating progress towards task completion.
Metacognition includes at least three different types of metacognitive awareness when considering metacognitive knowledge: Declarative knowledge: refers to knowledge about oneself as a learner and about what factors can influence one's performance. Declarative knowledge can also be referred to as "world knowledge". Procedural knowledge: refers to knowledge about doing things. This type of knowledge is displayed as heuristics and strategies. A high degree of procedural knowledge can allow individuals to perform tasks more automatically. This is achieved through a large variety of strategies that can be accessed more efficiently. Conditional knowledge: refers to knowing when and why to use declarative and procedural knowledge. It allows students to allocate their resources when using strategies. This, in turn, makes the strategies more effective.
These types of metacognitive knowledge also include: Content knowledge (declarative knowledge), which involves understanding of one's own capabilities, such as a student evaluating their own knowledge of a subject in a class. Notably, not all metacognition is accurate. Studies have shown that students often mistake a lack of effort for understanding when evaluating themselves and their overall knowledge of a concept. Also, greater confidence in having performed well is associated with less accurate metacognitive judgment of the performance. Task knowledge (procedural knowledge), which is how one perceives the difficulty of a task, including the content, length, and type of assignment. The study mentioned in Content knowledge also addresses a person's ability to evaluate the difficulty of a task relative to their overall performance on it. Again, the accuracy of this knowledge was skewed: students who thought their way was better/easier also seemed to perform worse on evaluations, while students who were rigorously and continually evaluated reported being less confident but still did better on initial evaluations. Strategic knowledge (conditional knowledge) is one's own capability for using strategies to learn information. Young children are not particularly good at this; it is not until students are in upper elementary school that they begin to develop an understanding of effective strategies. In short, strategic knowledge involves knowing what (factual or declarative knowledge), knowing when and why (conditional or contextual knowledge), and knowing how (procedural or methodological knowledge).
Similar to metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive regulation, or "regulation of cognition," contains three skills that are essential. Planning: refers to the appropriate selection of strategies and the correct allocation of resources that affect task performance. Monitoring: refers to one's awareness of comprehension and task performance Evaluating: refers to appraising the final product of a task and the efficiency with which the task was performed. This can include re-evaluating the strategies used.
Metacognitive control is an important skill in cognitive regulation; it involves focusing cognitive resources on relevant information. Similarly, maintaining motivation to see a task to completion is also a metacognitive skill that is closely associated with the attentional control. The ability to become aware of distracting stimuli – both internal and external – and sustain effort over time also involves metacognitive or executive functions. Swanson (1990) found that metacognitive knowledge can compensate for IQ and lack of prior knowledge when comparing fifth and sixth-grade students' problem-solving. Students with a better metacognition were reported to have used fewer strategies, but solved problems more effectively than students with poor metacognition, regardless of IQ or prior knowledge.
A lack of awareness of one's own knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and adaptive strategies leads to inefficient control over them. Hence, metacognition is a necessary life skill that needs nurturing to improve one's quality of life. Maladaptive use of metacognitive skills in response to stress can strengthen negative psychological states and social responses, potentially leading to psychosocial dysfunction. Examples of maladaptive metacognitive skills include worry based on inaccurate cognitive conceptions, rumination, and hypervigilance. Continuous cycles of negative cognitive conceptions and the associated emotional burden often lead to negative coping strategies such as avoidance and suppression. These can foster pervasive learned helplessness and impair the formation of executive functions, negatively affecting an individual's quality of life.
The theory of metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, and both students and teachers need to demonstrate understanding of it. Students who underwent metacognitive training, including pretesting, self-evaluation, and creating study plans, performed better on exams. They are self-regulated learners who utilize the "right tool for the job" and modify learning strategies and skills based on their awareness of effectiveness. Individuals with a high level of metacognitive knowledge and skill identify blocks to learning as early as possible and change "tools" or strategies to ensure goal attainment. A broader repertoire of "tools" also assists in goal attainment. When "tools" are general, generic, and context-independent, they are more likely to be useful across different types of learning needs. In one study examining students who received text messages during college lectures, it was suggested that students with higher metacognitive self-regulation were less likely than others to have their learning affected by keeping their mobile phones switched on in class.
Finally, there is no distinction between domain-general and domain-specific metacognitive skills. This means that metacognitive skills are domain-general, and there are no specific skills for particular subject areas. The metacognitive skills that are used to review an essay are the same as those that are used to verify an answer to a math question.