What Is Metacognition?

Author(s): Michael E. Martinez

Source: The Phi Delta Kappan , May, 2006, Vol. 87, No. 9 (May, 2006), pp. 696-699
Published by: Phi Delta Kappa International

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20442131

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What Is Metacognition?
Teachers intuitively recognize the importance
of metacognition but may not be aware of its
many dimensions. Mr. Martinez explores the
varieties of metacognitive skills and then offers

suggestions for cultivating them in learners of

al l ages.

BY MICHAEL E. MARTINEZ

HE DISCOVERY and theoretical elaboration of metacognition constitute a

major breakthrough in recent decades of cognitive research. While it is al
ways best to begin with definitions, a concept as complex as metacognition
demands that our initial definition be provisional. This definition will be
come more detailed and complete as our understanding grows. Many teach
ers would describe metacognition, quite acceptably, as "thinking about
thinking." But I would propose a more precise definition: metacognition is
the monitoring and control of thought. In this article, I seek to clarify the
concept of metacognition and to present ideas about how metacognitive ability can be
taught.
Metacognition serves many diverse functions, as does language. Consider what the Aus
trian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein had to say about language: "Think of the tools in a
tool-box: There is a hammer, pliers, a saw, a screw-driver, a rule, a glue-pot, glue, nails, and
screws. The functions of words are as diverse as the functions of these objects."' The tool
box is an equally apt metaphor for metacognition.
To give a sense of the breadth of metacognitive functioning, I have identified three ma
jor categories of metacognition: metamemory and metacomprehension, problem solving,
and critical thinking. While this simple taxonomy does not exhaust the many types of
metacognition, it does communicate the broad role of the process in important cognitive
endeavors.
Metamemory and metacomprehension. I have grouped these two concepts together be
cause both refer to an understanding of one's own knowledge state. To grasp metamemory,
think about being asked if you are able to name the planets of our solar system in order of
their distance from the sun. Now, you either can or cannot do so. But your answer to the ques
tion might be yes or no in either case. That is, you can be accurate or inaccurate in your apprais
al of your own knowledge. Is this accuracy important? Yes, it is. Research has shown that this
MICHAEL F. MARTINEZ is an associate professor in the Department of Education at the University
of California, Irvine.

696 PHI DELTA KAPPAN Il//ustration: Artvi//e

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self-insight has predictive power for subsequent learning.2 trol group, standardizing procedures, using reliable meas
Metacomprehension is a similar concept with similar urement)?
importance to learning. Comprehension during reading or Critical thinking can take very specific forms. In fact, the
listening can be either good or poor. But independent of methods of inquiry used in science and those used in other
learners' true comprehension is whether they realize that domains can be viewed as specialized tools developed
their comprehension is good or poor. This appraisal can over many years to focus a more basic and general orien
sometimes be very inaccurate. You can easily imagine a stu tation to critical thinking. Is metacognition a content-spe
dent reading a textbook page and not understanding it - cific skill, or do metacognitive processes cross subject do
and moreover not realizing that he does not understand it. mains? On this question there are differences of opinion.
Believing that one understands when one does not is a seri Many researchers stress that the power of metacognitive
ous and common error. But even more serious is when stu skills is content-bound. But while it is easy to make a case
dents don't even consider whether they comprehend but that many meta
simply take notes or read mechanically. cognitive process- Conscious processes and
Problem solving. This almost exclusively human pursuit es are content-fo
is a significant category of cognitive activity. Problem solv cused, it seems un- automated processes often
ing is exercised daily, often continuously, especially in a likely that all im- complement one another in
complex society where following established rules and pro
portant metacog- complex cognition.
cedures is not enough to succeed. Problem solving can be nitive functions are.
defined simply as the pursuit of a goal when the path to The generality of
that goal is uncertain. In other words, it's what you do some functions is stated plainly by Ann Brown in a seminal
when you don't know what you're doing. article on metacognition.
Scientific research is a form of problem solving; so is teach
ing. Neither of these enterprises is algorithmic. Both involve The skills of metacognition do appear to have rec
ognizable counterparts in "real-world, everyday
continuously generating possibilities, weighing those op
life" situations. Checking the results of an operation
tions, exploring subsets of options, and evaluating the re against certain criteria of effectiveness, economy, and
sults. Herbert Simon used the metaphor of finding your way commonsense reality is a metacognitive skill appli
through a maze to describe this process. Problem solving cable whether the task under consideration is solv
certainly involves cognition. But more is required: constantly ing a math problem, memorizing a prose passage,
following a recipe, or assembling an automobile.
stepping back mentally to appraise and rework plans by
Self-interrogation concerning the state of one's own
asking such questions as, What am I trying to accomplish? knowledge during problem solving is an essential
What are the most promising pathways? Is my strategy work skill in a wide variety of situations, those of the lab
ing? oratory, the school, or everyday life.3
Critical thinking. Like problem solving, critical thinking
encompasses a lot of what human beings do - or at least
METACOGNITION AND AUTOMATICITY
potentially can do. While problem solving and critical think
ing are distinct functions, they can be seen as complemen In the research literature, metacognition is usually pre
tary. Critical thinking may be a little harder to define, but sented as a conscious and deliberate mental activity - we
here is a first approximation: critical thinking is evaluating become aware that we don't understand a paragraph we
ideas for their quality, especially judging whether or not read or a statement we hear. However, cognition is some
they make sense. There are many metacognitive standards times, even often, carried out without much conscious de
that apply to thinking critically. For example, when evalu liberation. Thinking that occurs without much awareness
ating ideas or messages, we can ask: or effort is called automated. When a skilled driver navi
* Is the idea stated clearly? gates a very familiar route, seemingly without effort, she is
* Does one idea follow logically from another? probably relying on automated thinking. In other words,
* Is the message logical, rational, and coherent? Or does she is exhibiting automaticity.
it contradict itself or make unwarranted inferences or un Now, operating automatically might seem to be a sim
supportable generalizations? ple-minded and lower-order process, but this is not neces
* Are claims backed by evidence and analysis that are sarily so. Conscious processes and automated processes
convincing and that conform to standards of inquiry (e.g., often complement one another in complex cognition. Read
judging the probability of sampling error, establishing a con ing for comprehension relies, for example, on fluent decod

MAY 2006 697

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 ing skills that are automated, as well as on more deliberate the status of personality trait.
cognition about themes and connections between ideas. But surely, the desire to develop metacognition as a per
Automaticity, therefore, aids and is essential to higher sonal habit is not new. Socrates trained his students to
order thought. Higher-order and lower-order thought gen velop habits of metacognition. We are all familiar with
erally work together rather than compete because of the cratic dialogue as a method of instruction, in which t
limited capacity of what is described as working memory. teacher poses a series of questions and the student respond
Working memory is the part of the mind that holds infor But what was the point of those questions for Socrates?
mation temporarily for processing. A vital fact about work was to reveal the gaps in understanding in the student
ing memory is that it is quite limited in capacity - we can well as in himself. This self-insight - metamemory, if y
hold only so much information in our conscious aware will - was for Socrates a key aspect of wisdom. Folly, o
ness at one time. If working memory is "filled" with infor the other hand, was the metacognitive error of believi
mation - say, from that needed to decode a text or to take one knows when, in fact, one does not. This misplaced c
notes on a lecture - there will be insufficient "room" in fidence has been called the "illusion of knowing" and i
working memory to ask, Do I understand what I just read common phenomenon, even among college students.4
or heard? However, if reading skill and note-taking skills Metacognition can be related not only to the intelle
are automated and fluent, then their burden on working tual ideals of Socrates but also to those of modern scholar
memory is reduced. Consequently, there is capacity left over Consider Bloom's Taxonomy, at the pinnacle of which
for the monitoring functions of metacognition. In like man evaluation. Why should evaluation be given such high
ner, every complex mental task blends automated skills with tus? Because all ideas can be evaluated critically for th
critical, creative, and intelligent cognition. quality i.e., for their accuracy, coherence, and compl
Even metacognition can sometimes have the quality of ness. Metacognition can be seen as evaluation turned i
automaticity. This became clear to me one day while I was ward, especially turned toward our own ideas.
teaching a class. A student noted a contradiction in some In fact, this characterization is compatible with the tea
thing I said during a lecture and raised her hand almost ings of the Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who is best
reflexively - without any prior conscious thought, she said known for the concept of the zone of proximal devel
later. Perhaps this kind of automaticity is what we envision ment. Equally important, though, is his theory of high
when we imagine a reflective person who has developed order thought. Vygotsky taught us that higher-order think
critical habits of mind. Metacognition can become so prac begins as social discourse and that these discourse patter
ticed, so normal, that as a mental habit it almost acquires are internalized over time and experience. We can imagine
for example, a debate between two parents who are t
ing to make a decision together - "We should do this b
cause ... ." countered by "No we shouldn't because.
When children eavesdrop on this kind of debate, ideal
they will internalize the structure of an argument that weig
options and selects good ones. Later, when the child fac
a complex decision alone, this same kind of internaliz
psychological debate can be put to good use.

METACOGNITION IN THE CLASSROOM

The pedagogical implication of Vygotsky's theories is th
student interaction can contribute to high-quality thinkin
0-~ Why is it that collaborative forms of learning are recogniz
as having great potential to benefit students? It is probab
because of a vaguely realized sense that the capacity f
higher-order thought is often cultivated by first engagin
in it in a social setting, just as Vygotsky claimed. I have s
gested that metacognition is implicit in many concepti
"You will appreciate this class when you get of
to the
the educated mind, going back as far as Socrates. It
watering hole."1 resonates with the intuitions of many teachers, who ofte

698 PHI DELTA KAPPAN

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recognize the importance of metacognitive skills and take
steps to cultivate them in their students.
Just as the idea of metacognition has been understood
implicitly, so has it been practiced implicitly for millennia
in the form of apprenticeship in the crafts and trades. More
recently within the professions, such apprenticeships as med UNENCORPORATING EDUCATION
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ical residencies have provided the social environment for
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how metacognitive skills and habits can be developed in
the classroom, whether elementary, secondary, undergrad
uate, or graduate. First, and most obviously, students must
have the opportunity to practice and so must be placed in
situations that require metacognition. Students should know
the meaning and importance of metacognition, and the de
velopment of the capacity for it ought to be an explicit goal Related to persistence are belief systems that emph
for both teacher and student. This goal must have a credi the role of effort, rather than fixed ability, in ultimat
ble and enduring presence in the established curriculum cess. The corresponding thought is: "With enough effor
and in assessments. can learn this."
Second - and this connects toVygotsky's teachings
metacognition can and should be modeled. When a teach
CONCLUSION
er "thinks aloud," particularly during problem solving, his
or her verbalizations can be a powerful source of cogni Although the term metacognition is a relatively re
tive processing that can be internalized by students. This invention, its practice is as old as rational thought. As l
has been called cognitive modeling, or what I like to think as people have evaluated ideas for their quality and so
of as "making thinking audible." to improve those ideas, they have performed metac
Third, just as teachers should model metacognition, so tive operations. Yet something is to be gained by giving
cial interaction among students should be used to cultivate practice a name and being clear about its meaning. F
their metacognitive capacity. If students are encouraged nately, metacognition can be defined simply, and it i
and guided to think critically together, then their spoken fairly easy to identify teaching methods that will en
reasoning will ideally make their cognitive tools available age metacognition.
to one another. Metacognitive ability is central to conceptions of w
I do not want to leave the topic of metacognition having it means to be educated. The world is becoming more co
stressed only its coolly rational elements. Metacognition plex, more information-rich, more full of options, and
also involves emotional and motivational considerations. demanding of fresh thinking. With these changes, th
Because metacognition is required in demanding situations, portance of metacognitive ability as an educational
it entails the management of emotions that often accom come can only grow.
pany difficulty, uncertainty, and the possibility of mistakes
1. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, 3rd ed., trans. G.
and failure. Metacognition might also involve learning pos Anscombe (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1958), p. 6.
itive emotions associated with accomplishment, focus, over 2. Sigmund Tobias and Howard T. Everson, Assessing Metacognitive K
edge Monitoring (New York: College Board, Report No. 96-1, 199
coming obstacles, and the possibility of creative solutions.
3. Ann L. Brown, "Knowing When, Where, and How to Rememb
On the self-regulatory side, persistence in the face of Problem of Metacognition," in Robert Glaser, ed., Advances in In
difficulty can be crucial. Metacognitive thought can sup tional Psychology vol. 1 (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1978), p. 80.
port persistence and focus. Students can learn to coach 4. Arthur M. Glenberg and William Epstein, "Calibration of Com
hension," Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memor
themselves: "Stay on track." "Don't give up." "Concentrate." Cognition, October 1985, pp. 702-18. K

MAY 2006 699

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