Lecture Notes on Metacognition

Lecture 1: Introduction to Metacognition **Glossary of Key Terms** - **Metacognition:** \"Thinking about thinking\" or \"knowing about knowing.\" It involves awareness and understanding of one\'s own cognitive processes, including strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. - **Metacog...

Lecture 1: Introduction to Metacognition **Glossary of Key Terms** - **Metacognition:** \"Thinking about thinking\" or \"knowing about knowing.\" It involves awareness and understanding of one\'s own cognitive processes, including strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. - **Metacognitive Knowledge:** Knowledge about cognition, encompassing person variables (knowledge about oneself as a learner), task variables (understanding the nature and demands of tasks), and strategy variables (awareness of learning strategies and their effectiveness). - **Metacognitive Regulation:** The ability to use metacognitive knowledge to control and adjust cognitive processes, strategies, and behaviors to improve learning and performance. - **Metacognitive Experiences:** Subjective feelings and judgments related to one\'s cognitive processes, such as feelings of knowing, confidence, or confusion. - **Miscalibrated Metacognition:** Inaccuracies in an individual\'s self-assessment of their performance or abilities, often resulting in overconfidence or underconfidence. - **Better-Than-Average Effect:** A cognitive bias where most individuals tend to rate themselves as above average compared to their peers in various abilities, traits, or attributes. - **Dunning-Kruger Effect:** A cognitive bias where individuals with low competence in a particular skill are often unaware of their shortcomings, leading to inflated self-assessments. - **Regression to the Mean:** A statistical phenomenon where extreme scores tend to move closer to the average on subsequent measurements. - **Bayesian \'Shrinkage\':** A statistical approach where estimates are adjusted based on prior knowledge or beliefs. - **First-Order Performance:** The actual performance or ability of an individual on a given task. Lecture 2: Measuring metacognition - **Metacognitive Accuracy**: Characterized at the group level by the \"Better-Than-Average Effect\", but this does not provide information about individuals within the group. - **Confidence Ratings**: Used to quantify metacognitive ability at the individual level. Researchers examine how closely confidence ratings differentiate between correct and incorrect performance. However, confidence is not always a reliable indicator of accuracy. - **Metacognitive Performance**: Has two key contributors, sensitivity and bias. - **Metacognitive Sensitivity**: The ability to discriminate between correct and incorrect decisions. - **Metacognitive Bias**: An individual\'s tendency to overestimate or underestimate their performance. - **Signal Detection Theory (SDT)**: A framework used to understand decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. It involves separating sensitivity (ability to discriminate between signal and noise) from criterion (the threshold for making a decision). - **Type-1 SDT**: Focuses on the stimulus representation and behavior in decision-making. - **Type-2 SDT**: Applies the principles of SDT to metacognitive judgments. - **Meta-d\' Model**: An extension of SDT to metacognitive judgments, which separates metacognitive bias from metacognitive sensitivity. It allows direct comparison between type 1 and type 2 performance, as both are measured in the same units (d\'). - **Metacognitive Efficiency**: Measured as the ratio of meta-d\' to d\' (meta-d\'/d\'). A value of 1 represents perfect metacognitive efficiency, indicating that the individual is using all available sensory evidence for both decision-making and confidence judgments. - **2-Alternative Forced Choice (2-AFC)**: A type of experimental paradigm where participants must choose between two options. The meta-d\' model can only be applied to data from 2-AFC tasks. - **Reverse Engineering of Metacognition (ReMeta)**: A newer approach to measuring metacognition that aims to overcome some limitations of the meta-d\' model. Initial findings suggest that ReMeta can provide measures of metacognitive sensitivity and bias that are independent of type-1 performance. - **Metacognitive Information Theory (Meta-I)**: Another new approach that quantifies the amount of information about decision accuracy contained in confidence ratings. This method is non-parametric, meaning it does not rely on assumptions of any specific model. Lecture 3: metacognition & psychopathology - **Anosognosia:** In neuropsychiatry, anosognosia and lack of awareness/insight are often used synonymously to describe a collection of attitudes and behaviors directed at one\'s illness. Examples include the inability to recognize motor, speech, or visual deficits following a stroke or other traumatic brain injury. Anosognosia also occurs with post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer's disease, particularly recognition of memory deficits. - **Depressive Realism:** This hypothesis states that depressed individuals make more realistic inferences about themselves and the world than non-depressed individuals. This idea contrasts with Aaron Beck's negativity hypothesis, which suggests that depressed individuals have an overly negative view of themselves. Evidence for depressive realism is mixed, and it is difficult to establish ground truth for real-life situations. - **Insight:** Insight can be preserved in some domains while impaired in others. Often, having more insight into disorders is positively correlated with low mood/depression. However, across many disorders, insight has been shown to improve treatment adherence and long-term outcomes. - **Lack of Insight in Schizophrenia:** Metacognitive deficits are particularly salient in schizophrenia. A lack of insight in schizophrenia includes an inability to recognize illness, compliance with treatment, and the effects of medication. Individuals with schizophrenia may also struggle to attribute symptoms to illness and dissociate hallucinations and delusions from reality. - **Metacognitive Deficits:** These deficits play a key role in various psychiatric and neurological disorders. They are multi-faceted and can include a lack of general awareness of having a disorder, a lack of awareness of specific symptoms or deficits, and generally impaired self-evaluation. - **Transdiagnostic Abnormalities of Confidence:** Transdiagnostic psychiatry attempts to understand the processes underlying complex behavior by relating them to symptom dimensions, transcending traditional diagnostic categories. This approach has the potential to refine clinical classifications beyond the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria. The underlying idea of this approach is that cognitive and brain-related functions might map more closely onto symptomatology than DSM diagnoses. Studies have investigated the relationships between transdiagnostic symptom dimensions and both metacognitive bias and sensitivity. They found that: - Compulsivity and intrusive thoughts are associated with reduced objective accuracy but increased absolute confidence. - Anxiety and depression are associated with systematically low confidence in the absence of impairments in objective accuracy. - These relationships were replicated across studies and cognitive domains, suggesting that they are reliable and domain-general. - While Big-5 personality traits also predicted objective task performance, only symptom dimensions were related to subjective confidence. - The results point to confidence as a central component of mental health. Lecture 4: Metacognition & belief structures **Glossary of Key Terms** - **Metacognitive sensitivity:** The ability to accurately assess the quality of one\'s own knowledge and judgments. - **Metacognitive bias:** Systematic errors in metacognitive judgments, such as overconfidence or underconfidence. - **Dogmatism:** A cognitive style characterized by closed-mindedness, rigidity, and resistance to changing one\'s beliefs. - **Imposterism:** A psychological pattern where individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as a fraud. - **Belief polarization:** The tendency for individuals to strengthen their existing beliefs in response to conflicting evidence. - **Radical beliefs:** Beliefs that deviate significantly from mainstream views and often involve extreme or intolerant attitudes. - **Climate change skepticism:** The denial or dismissal of the scientific consensus on climate change. - **Information-seeking:** The process of actively seeking out new information to reduce uncertainty or update existing knowledge. - **Belief updating:** The process of revising or changing one\'s beliefs in light of new information. - **Knowledge overconfidence:** A metacognitive bias where individuals overestimate the accuracy and completeness of their knowledge. Lecture 5: Neural Correlates of Metacognition - **Neural Correlates:** Neural correlates refer to the specific brain regions and activity patterns that are associated with a particular cognitive function or process. In the context of the provided sources, it refers to the neural activity and regions involved in metacognition. - **Lesion Studies:** Lesion studies involve examining the cognitive abilities of individuals with brain damage (lesions) to specific regions. By observing the cognitive deficits associated with particular lesions, researchers can infer the role of those brain regions in normal cognitive function. - **Neuroimaging:** Neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI, EEG, and MEG, are used to visualize and measure brain activity. These techniques allow researchers to study the neural correlates of cognitive processes, including metacognition, in living individuals. - **fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging):** fMRI is a neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow. It provides good spatial resolution, allowing researchers to pinpoint specific brain regions involved in a cognitive task, but it has poor temporal resolution. - **EEG (Electroencephalography):** EEG is a neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by recording electrical signals from the scalp. It has excellent temporal resolution, allowing researchers to track changes in brain activity over milliseconds, but its spatial resolution is limited. - **MEG (Magnetoencephalography):** MEG is a neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting magnetic fields produced by electrical currents in the brain. It offers a good balance between spatial and temporal resolution. - **TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation):** TMS is a non-invasive technique that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate or inhibit specific brain regions. It can be used to investigate the causal role of particular brain areas in cognitive processes, including metacognition. - **Prefrontal Cortex (PFC):** The prefrontal cortex is the front part of the frontal lobes of the brain. It is involved in higher-level cognitive functions, such as planning, decision-making, working memory, and metacognition. - **Anterior Prefrontal Cortex:** This is the foremost part of the prefrontal cortex, and studies have linked it to metacognitive abilities. Lesions in this area can result in deficits in self-knowledge related to cognitive and personality changes. - **Medial Prefrontal Cortex (PFC):** The medial PFC is a subregion of the prefrontal cortex located in the middle of the frontal lobes. It has been implicated in various cognitive functions, including self-awareness, social cognition, and metacognitive judgments, particularly those related to prospective thinking. - **Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (PFC):** The lateral PFC is a subregion of the prefrontal cortex located on the sides of the frontal lobes. It plays a role in executive functions, working memory, and goal-directed behavior. It is also associated with retrospective metacognitive accuracy, meaning the ability to assess the accuracy of past decisions. - **Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC):** The vmPFC is a subregion of the prefrontal cortex located in the lower middle part of the frontal lobes. It is involved in decision-making, emotional processing, and metacognitive evaluation, including processing confidence signals. - **Domain-General Metacognition:** This refers to the idea that metacognitive processes are applicable across various cognitive domains, such as perception, memory, and decision-making. - **Domain-Specific Metacognition:** This concept suggests that metacognitive processes are tailored to specific cognitive domains, meaning that different neural mechanisms might be engaged for metacognitive evaluations in different tasks. - **Event-Related Potential (ERP):** An ERP is a measured brain response that is the direct result of a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event. It is a stereotyped electrophysiological response to a stimulus. - **Computations Underlying Metacognitive Judgments:** The specific computational processes that give rise to metacognitive judgments and how they are implemented in the brain are still not fully understood. - **Involvement of Other Brain Regions:** While the prefrontal cortex is a key area for metacognition, it is likely that other brain regions, including subcortical structures, also play a role. - **Relationship to Psychiatric Symptoms:** It is unclear whether dysfunction in metacognitive circuits might contribute to psychiatric symptoms, and further research is needed to explore this connection. - **Modulating Metacognition:** Researchers are investigating whether it is possible to modulate activity in metacognitive circuits to enhance or alter metacognitive abilities Lecture 6: Evolution of Metacognition in other species **Glossary of Key Terms** - **Intrapersonal:** Occurring within the individual\'s own mind or self. - **Suprapersonal:** Extending beyond the individual\'s own mind or self, involving interactions with others. - **Cultural Origins Hypothesis:** The theory that metacognition primarily develops through cultural learning and social interactions rather than solely through genetic inheritance. - **Discrimination (in metacognition):** The ability to distinguish between different types of metacognitive input, such as differentiating between stimulus visibility and decision confidence. - **Interpretation (in metacognition):** Understanding the meaning of metacognitive states in different contexts, such as recognizing that low confidence in a specific task does not necessarily indicate low self-esteem. - **Broadcasting (in metacognition):** Communicating one\'s confidence levels to others, both verbally and nonverbally. - **Theory of Mind (ToM):** The ability to understand that other people have their own thoughts, beliefs, and intentions that may differ from one\'s own. - **Opt-out Response:** A method for measuring metacognition in animals where the animal is given the option to decline participation in a difficult task, suggesting an awareness of its own uncertainty. - **Post-Decision Wagering:** A technique for assessing metacognition in animals where the animal is allowed to bet on the accuracy of its own choices, indicating its confidence level in the decision. - **Prospective Task Choice:** A paradigm where animals are given the opportunity to choose between tasks of varying difficulty levels, potentially reflecting their metacognitive assessment of their own abilities. - **Uncertainty Judgments:** Evaluations made by individuals about the reliability or completeness of their knowledge or perceptions. - **Prospective Confidence Judgments:** Assessments of confidence made before a decision or action is taken. - **Retrospective Confidence Judgments:** Evaluations of confidence made after a decision or action has been completed. Lecture 8: Metacognition and Consciousness - **Consciousness**: A state of being aware of one\'s surroundings and internal experiences. It\'s usually associated with states of high arousal and wakefulness. - **Phenomenally Conscious**: An experience or mental entity is \'phenomenally conscious\' if there is \'something it is like\' for one to have it. - **Qualia**: Subjective, first-person conscious experiences; the raw feels of conscious experience. - **The Hard Problem of Consciousness**: A fundamental mystery in neuroscience and psychology: the disconnect between the objective substrates and subjective quality of conscious experience. In other words, how do physical processes in the brain give rise to the subjective, felt experience of consciousness? - **Functionalism**: The idea that the identity of a mental state is determined by its causal relations to sensory stimulations, other mental states, and behavior. - **Mechanical Philosophy**: The dominant scientific paradigm at the dawn of modern science, which proposed that the natural world is like a complicated machine and is best understood in terms of matter in motion. - **Action at a Distance**: A concept, most famously demonstrated by Newton\'s theory of gravity, which challenged the Mechanical Philosophy by showing that physical contact is not the only efficient cause in the natural world. - **Blindsight**: A condition characterized by residual visual abilities in the absence of reported visual awareness, often following lesions to the primary visual cortex. - **Metacognition**: Awareness and understanding of one\'s own thought processes. It encompasses knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or problem-solving. - **Metacognition as a Step Toward Explaining Phenomenology (M-STEP)**: A recent approach proposed by Megan Peters that suggests research into metacognition might offer a step towards tackling the hard problem of consciousness. This approach focuses on building computational models of metacognitive processes, particularly confidence judgments, in order to understand the generation of subjective experience. - **Meta-d\'**: A measure of metacognitive sensitivity; the ability to discriminate between correct and incorrect decisions. - **M-ratio**: A measure of metacognitive efficiency that relates metacognitive sensitivity (meta-d\') to the level of first-order performance (d\'). Lecture 9: Improving Metacognition **Glossary of Key Terms** 1. **Metacognition:** Thinking about thinking. It involves the ability to monitor and control one\'s own cognitive processes. 2. **Metacognitive Sensitivity:** The accuracy with which individuals can judge their own performance on a cognitive task. 3. **Metacognitive Bias:** An individual\'s overall tendency to overestimate or underestimate their performance. 4. **Metacognitive Efficiency:** A measure combining metacognitive sensitivity and performance, indicating how well metacognitive judgments guide behaviour. 5. **Cognitive-Attentional Syndrome (CAS):** A pattern of maladaptive cognitive and attentional processes, including worry, rumination, and threat monitoring, that contributes to psychological distress. 6. **Metacognitive Therapy (MCT):** A type of psychotherapy that focuses on modifying maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and attentional processes to alleviate psychological distress. 7. **Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT):** A type of psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and changing maladaptive thought patterns and behaviours. 8. **Focused Attention (\"Samatha\") Meditation:** A type of meditation that emphasizes maintaining attention on a single object or sensation. 9. **Noradrenaline:** A neurotransmitter involved in various cognitive functions, including attention, arousal, and memory. 10. **Propranolol:** A medication that blocks the effects of noradrenaline. 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