Improving Meta

Metacognitive abilities can be stable over time and across different tasks or subjects.

A component of metacognition related to a person's ability to correctly assess their own knowledge and understanding of a task or subject.

A component of metacognition related to errors or inaccuracies in a person's assessment of their own knowledge or understanding.

Metacognitive measures that remain consistent over different time periods and diverse tasks.

Tasks involving interpreting or judging sensory information.

Tasks focused on demonstrating or applying acquired information.

Independent experimental trials or phases used to evaluate consistency of metacognitive performance.

A total number of 25 individuals actively involved in a research study.

The effectiveness and speed of a person's monitoring and control of their own cognition.

A training method that uses feedback to improve metacognitive skills.

A factor that distorts or obscures the relationship between variables in an experiment.

Motivation to improve cognitive function was limited to post-training session.

Use of varying scales between pre-training and post-training assessment

Initial performance measurement did not change during training or control.

Improved metacognitive skills affected untrained memory tasks.

A scientific study that repeats the methods and procedures of an earlier study, often with different participants or conditions, to see if the original findings can be replicated.

Attempts to improve metacognitive abilities (sensitivity and/or efficiency) through deliberate practice and instruction.

A type of therapy that focuses on changing negative and unhelpful thought patterns and beliefs, often used for anxiety and depression.

Increasing one's metacognitive skills, such as the ability to accurately assess their own understanding and adjust learning strategies accordingly.

A model explaining how dysfunctional strategies used to manage distressing thoughts and feelings can actually worsen psychological problems.

These are unhelpful ways people try to deal with difficult thoughts and emotions, which often create a vicious cycle.

While CBT focuses on the content of thoughts, MCT emphasizes the role of how we think about those thoughts (metacognition) and how we try to manage them.

These strategies are initially used as attempts to cope with distress but end up making things worse in the long run.

Rumination, where you repeatedly dwell on negative thoughts or experiences without finding solutions.

Worries, threat monitoring, trying to control thoughts, avoidance, and seeking reassurance from others are also common dysfunctional strategies.

By identifying and changing dysfunctional strategies, MCT aims to help individuals develop healthier ways to manage their thoughts and feelings.

A therapy approach that aims to treat anxiety and depression by identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts about thinking itself.

A pattern of negative thoughts and beliefs that contribute to mental distress. This includes rumination, worry, and excessive focus on threats.

These beliefs suggest that thinking deeply about problems is helpful and necessary to overcome them.

These beliefs view negative thoughts and feelings as uncontrollable and indicative of serious problems.

MCT helps individuals challenge and change unhelpful metacognitive beliefs and processes related to the Cognitive-Attentional Syndrome.

These are core beliefs about thinking and feeling that contribute to mental distress, specifically those related to rumination and threat monitoring.

These beliefs could include thinking that constantly analyzing problems is necessary for finding solutions or that worrying helps prevent future problems.

These beliefs could include believing that negative thoughts are uncontrollable, or that feeling sad means you have a serious brain problem.

Negative thinking habits that worsen mental health, such as constantly worrying, replaying negative events, or anticipating threats.

Unrealistic beliefs about the power and importance of negative thoughts, believing they are uncontrollable or highly significant.

A technique used in MCT to help individuals gain better control over their thoughts and focus, becoming more aware of how their minds work.

Mindfully observing negative thoughts without getting caught up in them or engaging in habitual worry or rumination.

A research method that combines the results of multiple studies on the same topic to get a bigger, more accurate picture of the effectiveness of a treatment.

Measures how much improvement participants showed within each group (therapy or control) in a study.

Measures the difference in improvement between groups (therapy vs. control) in a study.

Subjective assessments of how certain someone is about their decision or answer.

How correct a person's choice is compared to the actual answer.

The capacity to monitor and control one's own thinking and learning.

Making decisions based on mental shortcuts or rules of thumb.

Expertise in a particular area or subject.

Improved ability in one area may not fully transfer to other areas.

General mental approaches used across different tasks.

Actively paying attention to your own thinking processes.

Different underlying cognitive processes for different types of tasks.

A personality trait characterized by curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to try new things.

Using mathematical tools to analyze data and draw conclusions.

Make it easier to think about and control your own thinking.

Practice of mindfulness and focused attention.

Cognitive activity involving remembering and retrieving information.

How closely your confidence ratings match your performance accuracy.

Targeted practice to improve metacognitive skills.