Metacognition - PSYC0032 PDF

Metacognition 01 February 2024 15:53 Main Ideas Notes Notes Defining Metacognition Metacognition: "Cognition about cognitive phenomena" (Flavell 1979). Components include: ○ Self-reflection: Assessing one's own thought processes. ○ Recursive thought: Thinking about thinking. ○ Introspection: Examini...

Metacognition 01 February 2024 15:53 Main Ideas Notes Notes Defining Metacognition Metacognition: "Cognition about cognitive phenomena" (Flavell 1979). Components include: ○ Self-reflection: Assessing one's own thought processes. ○ Recursive thought: Thinking about thinking. ○ Introspection: Examining one's inner experiences. Meta-Analysis of Metacognitive Sensitivity Correlations Evidence suggests a domain-generality in metacognition, but inconsistencies across task designs and low power in studies are noted. Examples of Metacognition Meta-memory and Meta-perception: Questions like "Do I know this topic?" or "Am I seeing things clearly?" illustrate metacognitive processes. Perceptual Confidence: In an optometrist's office, increasing clarity in vision leads to increasing confidence in letter identification, demonstrating metacognitive assessment of one's sensory perception. A Neuropsychology of Metacognition Focuses on the frontal lobe, with damage often affecting self-awareness and insight. Hierarchies of Metacognitive Evaluation Metacognitive evaluation operates at multiple hierarchical levels: ○ Local (e.g., "I got this question correct") to Global (e.g., "I generally have good memory"). Reciprocal Interaction: Local confidence influences global self -beliefs, and vice versa. Why is Metacognition Important? Insight: Accurate metacognition is crucial; inaccurate metacognitive knowledge is common in psychiatric and neurological disorders, and healthy aging. Type 1 and Type 2 decisions: Type 1 involves primary sensory evidence and action, while Type 2 refers to a meta -level decision about the Type 1 decision. Studying Metacognition: Type 1 and Type 2 Decisions Type 1 Decision: Involves sensory evidence, accumulation, categorization, and action. Type 2 Decision: Involves decision variables, performance monitoring, and is essentially a decision about the Type 1 decision. A Primer on Measuring Metacognition Behavior vs. Metacognitive Judgment: Comparing the actual behavior (e.g., response in an experiment) with the individual's confidence in their performance. Quantifying Metacognition Bias and Sensitivity: ○ Bias: Average level of confidence relative to performance. ○ Sensitivity: Ability of confidence to discriminate between correct and incorrect trials. Requires multiple judgments over time to examine the association between behavior and metacognitive judgments. Quantifying Metacognitive Sensitivity - Area Under Type 2 ROC ROC Curves: Used to describe the ability of a decision -maker to distinguish between different states (e.g., correct vs. incorrect decisions). Importance of Controlling for Performance Distinguishing between first-order performance and metacognitive sensitivity to identify true differences in metacognition. Type 1 and Type 2 Sensitivity Meta-d’: Metric for metacognitive efficiency, comparing metacognitive sensitivity (Type 2) to primary decision sensitivity (Type 1). Isolating Metacognition from First-Order Performance Studies (e.g., Fleming et al., 2010) use tasks like contrast discrimination to separate metacognitive ability from task performance. Aroc (Area under ROC): Quantifies the relationship between confidence and accuracy, measuring metacognitive ability. Does Having Good Metacognition on Task 1 Predict Good Metacognition on Task 2? Studies indicate significant correlations in metacognitive efficiency (sensitivity and bias) across different tasks. Summary Metacognition Measurement: Across tasks, measured as the association between behavior (d’) and self-evaluation (confidence meta-d’). Complexity and Distribution: Metacognition depends on transforming domain-specific representations (e.g., uncertainty, evidence strength) into integrated representations of self-performance. Key Brain Regions: Medial PFC (pgACC): Tracks an integrated representation of confidence. Lateral/anterior PFC: Mediates metacognitive sensitivity, aiding in the strategic use or communication of metacognitive representations to guide behavior. Domain-General Contributions: Evidence supports the idea of task-independent confidence codes in medial PFC. Promotion of Openness: Good metacognition enhances openness to new information, especially when one is likely to be wrong. PSYC0032 The Brain in Action Page 1 Metacognition and Intelligence Metacognitive capacity is distinct from IQ; one can be intelligent but have limited self-awareness. Theories of the Frontopolar Cortex Frontopolar Cortex: Implicated in complex aspects of cognition like managing novel situations, controlling attention, evaluat ion, reasoning, and reality monitoring. Individual Differences in Metacognition Distinctions in metacognition: ▪ Midline "core": Early/automatic confidence tracking. ▪ Lateral aPFC: Late/explicit metacognitive representations. Modeling Subjective Fluctuations in Confidence Complex models involving multiple parameters (e.g., confidence, decision, reaction time) used to understand and predict metacognitive judgments and their fluctuations. Shared Signals for Confidence Across Tasks Cross-Classification and Cross-Validation: Utilized in memory and perception tasks to analyze shared signals for confidence. Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA): Employed to examine and understand these shared confidence signals. Connectivity Supporting Explicit Metacognition Explicit Metacognition and Connectivity: Explored through EEG-informed fMRI and PPI analysis. Interaction between DV (Decision Variable) and Confidence: Investigated, showing significant effects and connectivity patterns. Lateral Frontopolar Cortex Tracks Explicit Confidence Key Regions Involved: ▪ Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex (pMFC). ▪ Perigenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex (pgACC). ▪ Lateral Frontal Pole (FPl): Specifically tracks explicit confidence. Closing the Loop Metacognition's Impact: ▪ Influences confidence formation and behavior. ▪ Affects behavioral performance. ▪ Shapes beliefs, showing that meta-d’ can be equal or not equal to d’. From Lab to the Real World Translation of Laboratory Insights: Exploring how lab-based metacognitive findings apply in real-world contexts. Do Markers of Confidence in Laboratory Tasks Investigation: Understanding how confidence markers in lab tasks correlate with broader phenomena. Metacognition and Political Attitudes Exploration: Studying the relationship between metacognition and political attitudes. Notes Role of Metacognitive Sensitivity ○ Studies Conducted: Showing metacognitive sensitivity's impact on political attitudes and decision-making. ○ Evidence: Found in two studies, indicating significant correlations (Study 1: N=380, p=0.034; Study 2: N=414, p < 0.0001). Metacognition and Political Attitudes (Continued) ○ Continuation: Further exploration of the link between metacognition and political attitudes. Role of Confidence in Information Seeking ○ Concept: Investigating how confidence influences the pursuit of information. Information Seeking is Guided by Confidence ○ Principle: Confidence levels significantly guide the process of seeking information. Relationship between Dogmatism and Information Seeking ○ Exploration: Studying how dogmatic beliefs correlate with patterns of information seeking. How Dogmatism Affects Information Seeking ○ Analysis: Understanding the impact of dogmatism on the propensity to seek information. Notes Notes PSYC0032 The Brain in Action Page 2 Notes PSYC0032 The Brain in Action Page 3 Notes Notes PSYC0032 The Brain in Action Page 4 PSYC0032 The Brain in Action Page 5