Metacognition: What Is It, What Is It For, And What Do We Know About It?

Catalog description

Metacognition - the ability to think about one's own thoughts - has been a topic of extensive research in the past few decades. The aim of this course is to provide an in-depth overview of the major theories and topics that have motivated empirical research, and push students to think about new directions for future work. Students will find, read, present, and discuss key theoretical and empirical papers to examine how metacognition has been defined and studied across domains (e.g., perception, memory, numerical cognition, reasoning about competence and effort, social decision-making) and disciplines (e.g., developmental, cognitive, and comparative science). Importantly, this course will also invite students to adopt a meta-stance toward research on metacognition itself: Students will be encouraged to critically examine the methods, identify gaps in the literature, and explore promising directions for future research. This course welcomes PhD students in Psychology and related disciplines whose work would benefit from a deeper understanding of the human capacity for self-reflection. Instructor permission required for Master's and Undergraduate students (background in developmental cognitive science required).