Summary School Psychology
Suzanne de Vries | IBP 2019-2020 | Year 3 | Block 4
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Chapter 9: Metacognition, reasoning and executive
function
Metacognition (Flavell): any cognitive activity or knowledge that takes as cognitive object an aspect
of cognitive activity. To develop it, children need to develop the ability to take cognition itself as the
object of cognition. Overlaps with Theory of Mind.
Metamemory
Metamemory is knowledge about memory: knowledge of oneself as a memorizer, of the present
contents of your memory, and of task demands. Realise that intentional memory behavior is required
(sensitivity), called meta-strategic knowing. Many different terms used in the research. Three areas:
knowledge about tasks, about persons and about strategies. Schneider and Lock: conditional
metacognitive knowledge, monitoring and self-regulation. Children as competent information
processors, or Good Information Processors. They developed a taxonomy of metacognition.
Metamemory variables: tasks, persons and strategies
Important in development is ability to interrelate the effect of different metamemory variables. Assess
the relative usefulness of different strategies. Awareness of the usefulness of categorisation present by
at least 9 years. Understanding how strategies work for the efficacy of strategy use. Labelling was a
more effective strategy for children who understood the behavior, gave mentalistic explanations.
Self-monitoring and self-regulation of memory
Self-monitoring: where you are with respect to your memory goals. Self-regulation: plan, direct and
evaluate own memory behavior. Older children better at self-regulation. Self-monitoring might be
available to younger children, but they don’t necessarily use monitored information to improve
memory performance. Even rhesus monkeys could selectively decline memory tasks when they knew
they had forgotten. When an implicit measure of metamemory is used, 4 year olds can monitor the
contents of their own memories and use this to improve their performance.
Ease-of-learning judgements
Ease-of-learning judgements: predict your own ability. Younger children are always worse at it. The
belief in the efficacy of effort declines as children get older. Implicit measures have been developed
which show that younger children have some awareness of what they know, but overestimate their
capabilities when asked explicit judgements.
Judgements-of-learning
Judgements-of-learning: assess own learning immediately after studying or after a short delay.
Accuracy of the judgements are higher in the delayed condition at all ages. Self-monitoring is quite
proficient even in young children. Developments in self-regulation rather than self-monitoring might
explain developments in metamemory.
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Feeling-of-knowing
Feeling-of-knowing: based on amount of information generated at retrieval. No significant
developmental trends with age. Expectation that stronger feeling-of-knowing judgements should be
given to stimuli that had previously shown errors of commission (incorrect answer). Children as
young as 2.5 years have implicit access to whether they know something. Implicit metacognitive
knowledge can guide task performance in this age group. Self-monitoring by children is fairly
accurate. Suggested that ability to link self-regulation skills to information gained from
self-monitoring shows important changes with development.
Source monitoring
Source monitoring: attribute the origins of one’s memories, knowledge and beliefs. Develops
markedly between 4-6 years. Children who cannot recall the sources of their memory may be
vulnerable to suggestibility. Linked to medial prefrontal cortex, particularly paracingulate cortex.
Metamemory and memory efficiency
Relationship between metamemory and memory performance seems to be bidirectional. As
meta-knowledge develops, memory peformance is enhanced.
Cognitive neuroimaging studies of metamemory
Nothing specific can be concluded. In adults, EEG marker called ERN (error related negativity)
discovered. Occurs during speeded response tasks when error is committed. The amplitude increases
with age. Following the ERN is Pe (error positivity). Amplitude also seems to increase with age. ERN
can even be measured in 12-month olds, suggesting it is an automatic brain response related to error
processing. Unlikely that it is an index of conscious awareness. Source monitoring in children has also
been studied with EEG, findings are uninformative. Measured the amplitudes of Nc and PSW
(positive slow wave) in source-correct trials, source-incorrect trials and correct rejection trials.
Reliably different in each condition. Greater amplitudes of PSW over the left temporal lobe related to
better source memory performance. Longitudinal fMRI design with monitoring of retrieval failures.
Accuracy of source memory found to improve with age, neural activity in anterior insula was
enhanced for uncertainty monitoring contrast, but for older children only. Also greater neural activity
in posterior parietal cortex, not varying with age.
Metacognition and executive function
Development of conscious control over thought, emotion and action. Three core factors: inhibition,
working memory and cognitive flexibility.
Patients with frontal cortex damage and executive function in children
Whether children, not good at strategic control and inhibiting inappropriate behaviors, would show
similar executive deficits as patients with frontal damage. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: significantly
more sorting errors and fewer shifts with frontal patients. Requires suppression of task-irrelevant
information. Impaired inhibitory functioning can be explanation for children’s difficulties in strategic
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behavior control. Information processing theories of cognitive development: children become capable
of more sophisticated kinds of information-processing with development because of changes in
working memory. Amount of processing capacity available changes with age, a common element in
neo-Piagetian theories. Capacity places an upper limit on cognitive performance, which gradually
shifts. Increases in capacity correlated with increased neural activation levels in structures, rather than
with increasing amounts of activated cortex. ‘Capacity’ increase thus not supported.
Cognitive flexibility and executive function: behavioral data
Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task: sort cards based on shape or color. 3-4 year olds can
experience considerable difficulties in rule shifting tasks, like frontal patients. Children become able
to make a judgement on one dimension while ignoring another between 3-5 years. Children cannot
inhibit a prepotent tendency to use the pre-switch rule at will, even though post-switch rule is known
and can be verbally reported. Important factor underlying children’s behavior is representational
conflict rather than response inhibition. Argued that critical feature of DCCS is inhibiting mindset that
is no longer relevant. Younger children have difficulty shifting their attentional focus flexibly between
conflicting representations. Also possible that difficulties are due to an inability to represent if-then
rules. Distinction between cool executive function (purely cognitive tasks) and hot executive function
(decisions about events with emotionally significant consequences). Gambling task for children with
cards depicting happy and sad faces. Received M&Ms with each happy face, could choose from
advantageous or disadvantageous deck. Important developments between 3-4 years in managing
conflicting representations.
Cognitive neuroscience studies of cognitive flexibility and executive function
PFC does not operate in isolation during tasks such as DCCS. But: larger cognitive control network
which also involves anterior cingulate cortex, dorsal premotor cortex and superior parietal cortex
among others. Growing functional connectivity. Age-related differences in rule switching associated
with differing connectivity in the brain rather than with specific neural structures. Study cognitive
flexibility, such as hot executive function in 8 year olds with EEG. Measure the P300 (index of
allocation of attention) and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN, before feedback occurs after
stimulus, reflect emotional salience). Punishment elicited greater P300 than reward, girls greater
effects. ERPs correlated with anticipated wins and losses can be measured in 8 year olds. ERPs did
not predict cool EF performance at age 12. Magnitude of P300 was only predictive of later thrill and
sensation seeking. Magnitude of SPN was only predictive of general academic competence. fNIRS:
measures changes in heamodynamic response in the brain over relatively long time. Suggest that
neural activity during EF tasks does not depend on developmental stage of the frontal cortex, but
neural activity in the frontal cortex depends on whether the child can successfully perform the EF
task. Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS): virtual cards on a computer screen, measures rule
switching and response time. Total MEFS score controlling for age positively correlated to beta power
and negatively to theta power. Theta/beta ratio declines with age.
Inhibitory control, planning and executive function: behavioral studies
Inhibitory control: inhibit responses to irrelevant stimuli while pursuing a cognitively represented
goal. Example: delay gratification with effortful inhibitory control. Many tasks available. Conflict
tasks:
