Psychology of Human Thought

Abstract

Metacognition is the “top manager” of cognitive functioning. Memory, for instance, consists of the basic cognitive functions for storing and retrieving information. Metacognitive processes are responsible for regulating these functions: setting goals for learning, examining the quality of memory storage and retrieval, allocating time to memory processes, choosing among strategies for reasoning, making decisions, and acknowledging achieving goals. Metacognition is not separate from cognition, but integral to all higher-order cognitive inferences, including explicit learning, skill development, recall of personal events, communication, decision making, problem solving, navigation, design, etc. It refers to the superordinate and in a way to the most responsible level of all cognitive functions. It constitutes the quality control of one’s own mental functions. The prefix “meta” in Greek loanwords denotes “something that consciously references or comments upon its own subject” (https://www.dictionary.co m/). Thus, metacognition is cognition about one’s own cognition. It serves to monitor the correctness of our cognitive operations and to correct for incorrect operations in order to control for the costs and benefits of our judgments and decisions (Nelson & Narens, 1990). To illustrate, an invoice must be checked (monitoring) and corrected for potential calculation errors (control). Before a written exam can be submitted, all responses must be validated (monitoring) and revised if necessary (control). Purchasing decisions must be confirmed (monitoring) or revised in case of dissatisfying expected results (control).