Lecture 3 Flashcards
lecture 3 Goals
Understanding the structure of metacognition, its monitoring, and its control
Explain how personality traits can affect our metacognitive processes
Illustrate how metacognitive confidence can affect reasoning and decision-making
METACOGNITION
def and explanation
Thinking about how we think. But it can also be unconscious. More precisely, it concerns the “class of mechanisms that allow us to form beliefs about other mental operations”
For instance:
You are doubting whether you will memorise all the information for the exam.
⚬ Metamemory
You believe that you are fluent in Javanese
⚬ Metalanguage
You are unable to see that your vision is slowly failing.
⚬ Metacognitive perception, Metaperception
METACOGNITION Flavell’s model (1979)
Flavell’s model (1979) for metacognition
Self-knowledge about one’s own capacity of thinking and accomplishing specific tasks
Metacognitive knowledge
What you know about yourself, about the tasks you have to achieve, or the strategies that you can use to accomplish them
(Metalanguage, metamemory, metaknowledge about self and others,etc)
name 3 types of Metacognitive experiences
- Metacognitive feelings
- Metacognitive judgments
- Task analysis
Metacognitive control
Selection and use of specific strategies to modify a current cognitive state
Metacognitive confidence:
Metacognitive sensitivity:
Metacognitive bias:
Accuracy is important, or consequences.
Metacognitive confidence:
How confident you are in your judgments
Metacognitive sensitivity:
Was your judgement right or wrong compared to reality
Metacognitive bias:
How far your judgement is compared to reality
Metacognitive sensitivity:
When you have emitted a metacognitive judgement, we can then compare it to the facts.
**Confident when your right : high metacognitive sensitivity
**Confident when you wrong : Low metacognitive sensitivity
dunning kruger effect in confidence
dunning kruger effect : The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities.
So , Beyond correct or incorrect, there is the degree of confidence that goes with it. The unskilled and unaware effect, also referred to as the Dunning-Kruger effect
Why is this the case?
Adaptative value: self-esteem protection.
Also can be useful for deception purposes.
Whats the Dual Process Theory (often attributed to Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky) :
Dual Process Theory (often attributed to Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky) :
posits that there are two distinct systems in the human mind that process information and influence decision-making:
System 1: spontaneous
Characteristics: Fast, automatic, intuitive, and often unconscious.
Function: Operates quickly and effortlessly, relying on heuristics (mental shortcuts) and intuition to make immediate judgments and decisions.
Examples: Recognizing a familiar face, making snap judgments based on appearance, and reacting to immediate dangers.
System 2: Deliberative
Characteristics: Slow, deliberate, analytical, and conscious.
Function: Engages in more effortful and logical thinking, requiring attention and reasoning to solve complex problems and make decisions that require careful consideration.
Examples: Solving a maths problem, planning a trip, and making financial decisions.
This gave an idea to Pennycook et al. (2017):
When people do not do well on the CRT, they actually believe to actually have done
Pennycook et al. (2017) suggested that individuals who do not perform well on the CRT often believe they have done well because their reliance on fast, intuitive (System 1) thinking provides a false sense of confidence. This phenomenon aligns with the Dual Process Theory’s distinction between the automatic, confident responses of System 1 and the more effortful, less certain responses of System 2.
confidence in their ability to detect deception
people have more incorrect beliefs or misunderstandings about deception, their confidence in their ability to detect deception tends to increase
1) Incorrect Cognitions About Deception:
These are false beliefs or misunderstandings about what constitutes deception, how to recognize it, or how often it occurs.
Examples include misconceptions like “liars always avoid eye contact” or “people who fidget are lying.”
2) Increase in Incorrect Cognitions:
When people hold more false beliefs about deception, they are more likely to overestimate their ability to detect lies and deception.
For example, if someone incorrectly believes that all liars exhibit certain behaviors, they might confidently assert they can always tell when someone is lying based on these behaviors.
The statement suggests a paradox where having more misconceptions about deception leads people to feel more confident in their ability to detect lies, even though this confidence is unfounded. Essentially, the less accurate their understanding of deception, the more confident they are in their (incorrect) beliefs and abilities related to identifying deceit.
self regulated learning and meta cognition
Metacognitive confidence is important in self-regulated learning
Elements that can affect confidence include:
* Motivation (top-down)
* Beliefs (top-down)
⚬ Academic self-efficacy
⚬ Academic self-concept
⚬ Perceived memory
⚬ Perceived competence
* Task (bottom-up)
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What is interesting in this study is that metacognitive beliefs act as a proximal cause
for metacognitive confidence, independently of the learning task performed.
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Metacognitive confidence is crucial for effective self-regulated learning (SRL). Several factors influence this confidence:
Top-Down Factors:
Motivation: Drives effort and persistence.
Beliefs: Includes academic self-efficacy, self-concept, perceived memory, and perceived competence.
Bottom-Up Factors:
Task Characteristics: Specific details and nature of the task.
Metacognitive Beliefs: These act as a direct cause of metacognitive confidence, independent of the specific task.
Influence of Beliefs on SRL: Learners’ general beliefs about their abilities significantly impact their self-evaluations and learning management.
Motivational Aspects: Motivations like self-protection and self-enhancement shape these beliefs, indirectly affecting metacognitive confidence.
Climate change and Metacognition:
Lower the MC sensitivity : higher risk at being sceptical about Climate change.
Lower the MC confidence : the more people would share contrarian information about Climate change.
MC confidence vs MC sensitivity
(Metacognitive confidence: is the degree of certainty individuals have about their own knowledge and cognitive abilities.)
(Metacognitive sensitivity: refers to an individual’s ability to accurately assess and monitor their own cognitive processes and performance. It reflects how well a person can judge their own knowledge, understanding, or skill level in a particular area.)
TAKE AWAY lecture 3
- Metacognition is composed of multiple elements that structure the way we think in
everyday life. - Metacognition can suffer from overconfidence (bias), which can hinder our thinking
processes - Metacognition varies according to the self-concept
