Metacognition 2024 Lecture Notes PDF

University of the Year for Student Experience (The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020) Metacognition Dr Chris Benwell 2024 dundee.ac.uk...

University of the Year for Student Experience (The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020) Metacognition Dr Chris Benwell 2024 dundee.ac.uk Page 1 Metacognition – Aims of the module  To gain a detailed understanding of the field of metacognition and metacognitive deficits in both the general population and those associated with psychopathology.  To become familiar with the common methodologies and paradigms in the area.  To obtain an understanding of the psychological and biological determinants of metacognition.  To be able to critically evaluate relevant research and contrast competing theories. dundee.ac.uk Page 2 Metacognition – Assessment Level 4 Coursework: 1 x 2500 word assignment. We will dedicate part of the session in week ? (beginning ?/?)) to preparation for the assignment. Worth 40% of module grade. Exam: Exam at end of semester. Worth 60% of module grade. Level 5 Coursework: 2 x 2500 word assignments, each worth 50% of the module grade. dundee.ac.uk Page 3 What to study? (1) Lecture notes (2) I will upload relevant papers for each lecture to the module page on MyDundee. (3) Any questions/concerns: [email protected] dundee.ac.uk Page 4 What to study? (1) Lecture notes (2) I will upload relevant papers for each lecture to the module page on MyDundee. (3) Any questions/concerns: [email protected] Please interrupt me throughout to ask as soon as any questions pop up. No need to wait until the end of the lecture. My aim is for the sessions to be transactional. dundee.ac.uk Page 5 What to study? References Dunning, D. (2011). The Dunning–Kruger effect: On being ignorant of one's own ignorance. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 44, pp. 247-296). Academic Press. Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American psychologist, 34(10), 906. Gignac, G. E., & Zajenkowski, M. (2020). The Dunning-Kruger effect is (mostly) a statistical artefact: Valid approaches to testing the hypothesis with individual differences data. Intelligence, 80, 101449. Jansen, R. A., Rafferty, A. N., & Griffiths, T. L. (2021). A rational model of the Dunning–Kruger effect supports insensitivity to evidence in low performers. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(6), 756–763. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01057-0 Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of personality and social psychology, 77(6), 1121. Nelson, T. O., & Narens, L. (1994). Why investigate metacognition? Metacognition: Knowing about knowing, 13, 1-25. Zell, E., Strickhouser, J. E., Sedikides, C., & Alicke, M. D. (2020). The better-than-average effect in comparative self- evaluation: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(2), 118. dundee.ac.uk Page 6 What is Metacognition? The term ‘metacognition’ was coined by John Flavell in the 1970’s. dundee.ac.uk Page 7 What is Metacognition? The term ‘metacognition’ was coined by John Flavell in the 1970’s. “…cognition about cognitive phenomena” “thinking about thinking” “knowing about knowing” dundee.ac.uk Page 8 What is Metacognition? The term ‘metacognition’ was coined by John Flavell in the 1970’s. “…cognition about cognitive phenomena” “thinking about thinking” “knowing about knowing” Flavell (1979) proposed that metacognition consists of metacognitive knowledge (knowing yourself), metacognitive regulation (using self-knowledge for self-regulation and self-improvement) and metacognitive experiences (i.e., “aha!” Moments). dundee.ac.uk Page 9 What is Metacognition? dundee.ac.uk Page 10 Metacognition in learning and education Higher-order thinking that involves awareness of our own levels of understanding and active control over the processes involved in learning. dundee.ac.uk Page 11 Metacognition in learning and education Higher-order thinking that involves awareness of our own levels of understanding and active control over the processes involved in learning. Metacognitive knowledge Refers to acquired knowledge about cognitive processes which can be used to control those processes. Three categories: 1. Person variables 2. Task variables 3. Strategy variables dundee.ac.uk Page 12 Metacognition in learning and education Person Variables Knowledge about how human beings learn and process information, as well as individual knowledge of one’s own learning processes. dundee.ac.uk Page 13 Metacognition in learning and education Person Variables Knowledge about how human beings learn and process information, as well as individual knowledge of one’s own learning processes. Task Variables Knowledge about the nature of the task as well as the type of processing demands that it will place on the individual. Knowing exactly what needs to be accomplished, gauging its difficulty and knowing the kind of effort it will require. dundee.ac.uk Page 14 Metacognition in learning and education Strategy Variables Awareness of the strategy you are using to learn and evaluating whether this strategy is effective. If you think the strategy is not working, you should have the flexibility to switch to a different strategy to see if it will work better. dundee.ac.uk Page 15 Metacognition in learning and education Strategy Variables Awareness of the strategy you are using to learn and evaluating whether this strategy is effective. If you think the strategy is not working, you should have the flexibility to switch to a different strategy to see if it will work better. Two crucial components: Meta-attention Strategies to keep your attention focussed on the task at hand (i.e., turning off phone, Pomodoro technique). Meta-memory Strategies to improve memory retention (i.e., chunking, visualisation, mnemonics). dundee.ac.uk Page 16 Metacognition in learning and education In learning, metacognitive knowledge is used in a purposeful manner to ensure that a goal is met. dundee.ac.uk Page 17 Metacognition in learning and education In learning, metacognitive knowledge is used in a purposeful manner to ensure that a goal is met. Example: “I know that I (personal variable) have more difficulty with Maths assignments than English assignments (task variable), so I will do my homework in Maths first and leave English until later (strategy variable)” dundee.ac.uk Page 18 Metacognition in learning and education In learning, metacognitive knowledge is used in a purposeful manner to ensure that a goal is met. Example: “I know that I (personal variable) have more difficulty with Maths assignments than English assignments (task variable), so I will do my homework in Maths first and leave English until later (strategy variable)” Educators try to integrate activities that build student’s capacities to reflect on their own characteristics as learners (personal variables), the tasks they are to do (task variables) and the strategies they can use to learn. dundee.ac.uk Page 19 Metacognition in learning and education Further reading on metacognition from a developmental and educational viewpoint: “Metacognition: A Literature Review” by Emily Lai (2011). dundee.ac.uk Page 20 Metacognition in everyday life Metacognition plays a crucial role not just in learning, but also in many other aspects of our daily lives. dundee.ac.uk Page 21 Metacognition in everyday life Metacognition plays a crucial role not just in learning, but also in many other aspects of our daily lives. - How confident am I in my decisions? dundee.ac.uk Page 22 Metacognition in everyday life Metacognition plays a crucial role not just in learning, but also in many other aspects of our daily lives. - How confident am I in my decisions? - I’m driving too fast, I feel out of control dundee.ac.uk Page 23 Metacognition in everyday life Metacognition plays a crucial role not just in learning, but also in many other aspects of our daily lives. - How confident am I in my decisions? - I’m driving too fast, I feel out of control - Did I speak to my partner last night or was I dreaming? dundee.ac.uk Page 24 Metacognition in everyday life Metacognition plays a crucial role not just in learning, but also in many other aspects of our daily lives. - How confident am I in my decisions? - I’m driving too fast, I feel out of control - Did I speak to my partner last night or was I dreaming? - I am sure/unsure what my colleague was telling me. dundee.ac.uk Page 25 Metacognition in everyday life Metacognition plays a key role in - Analysing strengths and weaknesses - Goal setting - Time management - Self-esteem dundee.ac.uk Page 26  Any questions? dundee.ac.uk Page 27 dundee.ac.uk  How accurate is human metacognition? dundee.ac.uk Page 29 Mis-calibration of metacognition When we ask people to evaluate their own performance in specific tasks, or more general traits related to their everyday lives, they are often not fully accurate in their evaluations. dundee.ac.uk Page 30 Mis-calibration of metacognition When we ask people to evaluate their own performance in specific tasks, or more general traits related to their everyday lives, they are often not fully accurate in their evaluations. Mis-calibrated metacognition is present in the general population, but is often even more pronounced in individuals with certain patterns of belief and personality. dundee.ac.uk Page 31 Mis-calibration of metacognition When we ask people to evaluate their own performance in specific tasks, or more general traits related to their everyday lives, they are often not fully accurate in their evaluations. Mis-calibrated metacognition is present in the general population, but is often even more pronounced in individuals with certain patterns of belief and personality. Metacognitive deficits, for instance systematic under- or over-confidence, are also observed in various neurological and psychiatric disorders (we will get to this in lecture 3!) dundee.ac.uk Page 32 Mis-calibration of metacognition When we ask people to evaluate their own performance in specific tasks, or more general traits related to their everyday lives, they are often not fully accurate in their evaluations. Mis-calibrated metacognition is present in the general population, but is often even more pronounced in individuals with certain patterns of belief and personality. Metacognitive deficits, for instance systematic under- or over-confidence, are also observed in various neurological and psychiatric disorders (we will get to this in lecture 3!) Over the next few slides, we will discuss some examples of self-evaluation bias from the Psychology literature. dundee.ac.uk Page 33 The Better-Than-Average Effect When asked to evaluate themselves on some ability, trait or attribute in comparison to an ‘average peer’, most people judge themselves to be above average. For a recent review, see Zell et al 2020. Zell et al., 2020 dundee.ac.uk Page 34 The Better-Than-Average Effect When asked to evaluate themselves on some ability, trait or attribute in comparison to an ‘average peer’, most people judge themselves to be above average. For a recent review, see Zell et al 2020. Zell et al., 2020 The effect has been observed for → Positive personality traits such as conscientiousness and agreeableness (for negative traits, people tend to indicate they are below average!) → Intelligence → Leadership → Physical attractiveness → Morality → Driving! dundee.ac.uk Page 35 The Better-Than-Average Effect dundee.ac.uk Page 36 The Better-Than-Average Effect dundee.ac.uk Page 37 The Dunning-Kruger Effect In line with the B-T-A effect, the Dunning-Kruger effect posits that individuals who are low in competence for a particular skill are often “blind to their low competence”. Hence, low performers tend to over- estimate their abilities. dundee.ac.uk Page 38 The Dunning-Kruger Effect In line with the B-T-A effect, the Dunning-Kruger effect posits that individuals who are low in competence for a particular skill are often “blind to their low competence”. Hence, low performers tend to over- estimate their abilities. dundee.ac.uk Page 39 The Dunning-Kruger Effect In line with the B-T-A effect, the Dunning-Kruger effect posits that individuals who are low in competence for a particular skill are often “blind to their low competence”. Hence, low performers tend to over- estimate their abilities. Kruger & Dunning (1999) mapped confidence onto objective expertise in domains of logical reasoning and grammar, as well as tasks assessing social skills. Essentially, those who performed worst didn’t seem to recognise their limitations and gave inappropriately high confidence ratings. dundee.ac.uk Page 40 The Dunning-Kruger Effect “In essence, we proposed that when it came to judgments of performance based on knowledge, poor performers would face a double burden. First, deficits in their expertise would lead them to make many mistakes. Second, those exact same deficits would lead them to be unable to recognize when they were making mistakes. This double-curse arises because, in many life domains, the act of evaluating the correctness of one’s (or anyone else’s) response draws upon the exact same expertise that is necessary in choosing the correct response in the first place. That is, in the parlance of psychological research, the skills needed to execute the meta-cognitive task of judging the accuracy of a response are precisely the same as those necessarily for the cognitive task of producing an accurate response.” David Dunning, 2011 dundee.ac.uk Page 41 The Dunning-Kruger Effect The classic metacognitive interpretation of the effect has recently been challenged dundee.ac.uk Page 42 The Dunning-Kruger Effect The classic metacognitive interpretation of the effect has recently been challenged - Regression to the mean (statistical artefact) (Gignac & Zajenkowski, 2020) dundee.ac.uk Page 43 The Dunning-Kruger Effect The classic metacognitive interpretation of the effect has recently been challenged - Regression to the mean (statistical artefact) (Gignac & Zajenkowski, 2020) - Bayesian ‘shrinkage’ (rational strategy) (Jansen et al., 2021). - Important point here is that metacognitive ability is the same across participants, and only 1st-order performance truly differs. dundee.ac.uk Page 44 The Dunning-Kruger Effect The classic metacognitive interpretation of the effect has recently been challenged - However, Jansen et al., (2021) provided compelling evidence that the D-K effect is real (not entirely a statistical artefact) and also truly reflects poorer metacognition in the lowest objective performers. dundee.ac.uk Page 45 Take Home Messages - The B-T-A and Dunning-Kruger effects indicate that human metacognition is imperfect, even in ‘healthy’ people. dundee.ac.uk Page 46 Take Home Messages - The B-T-A and Dunning-Kruger effects indicate that human metacognition is imperfect, even in ‘healthy’ people. - People are often systematically biased when asked to reflect on their decisions and evaluate their abilities. dundee.ac.uk Page 47 Take Home Messages - The B-T-A and Dunning-Kruger effects indicate that human metacognition is imperfect, even in ‘healthy’ people. - People are often systematically biased when asked to reflect on their decisions and evaluate their abilities. - In the coming weeks we will explore research into what consequences these metacognitive distortions might have and how they relate to other cognitive processes and personality traits. dundee.ac.uk Page 48 Next week How to measure metacognition. dundee.ac.uk Page 49 dundee.ac.uk What to study? References Dunning, D. (2011). The Dunning–Kruger effect: On being ignorant of one's own ignorance. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 44, pp. 247-296). Academic Press. Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American psychologist, 34(10), 906. Gignac, G. E., & Zajenkowski, M. (2020). The Dunning-Kruger effect is (mostly) a statistical artefact: Valid approaches to testing the hypothesis with individual differences data. Intelligence, 80, 101449. Jansen, R. A., Rafferty, A. N., & Griffiths, T. L. (2021). A rational model of the Dunning–Kruger effect supports insensitivity to evidence in low performers. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(6), 756–763. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01057-0 Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of personality and social psychology, 77(6), 1121. Nelson, T. O., & Narens, L. (1994). Why investigate metacognition? Metacognition: Knowing about knowing, 13, 1-25. Zell, E., Strickhouser, J. E., Sedikides, C., & Alicke, M. D. (2020). The better-than-average effect in comparative self- evaluation: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(2), 118. dundee.ac.uk Page 51