Wednesday, April 20, 2016

44. Thinking about Thinking: The Concept of Metacognition (textbook)

John Flavell, a professor at Stanford University coined the tern "metacognition". I have never heard the term nor of John Flavell.  Metacognition is about being aware of ones own cognitive abilities.  He studied young children at different ages.  He gave preschool age children something to study and memorize. Then as another group he gave elementary aged students something to memorize.  Flavell found that preschoolers were much more confident in memorizing or less aware of their cognitive abilities.  As we get older we become more aware of our metacognition.  Adults like creative directors and art directors are the most aware and that's why they know how their minds work.

I find this fascinating because I have never thought about this topic or the idea of how younger people are more naive maybe.  As people get older they become more aware and I am curious why this is.  I wonder if metacognition is more about thinking about thinking or... understanding how you think.  The book does not elaborate on that second idea.  I think it involves both components very closely.    

  

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