Definition of Metacognition

Metacognitive strategies are sequential processes that one uses to control cognitive activities, and to ensure that a cognitive goal (e.g., understanding a text) has been met (Livingston, 1977). Metacognition is the underlying concept of the use of metacognitive strategies. Metacognition can be most simply defined as “thinking about thinking” (Flavell, 1979, p. 906), “cognition about cognition”, or “knowing about knowing” (Metcalfe & Shimamura, 1994). The area of study has received researchers’ attention in psychology since 1970’s. Flavell (1976) first used the term

metacognition to refer to “one’s knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them”. In other words, metacognition can be described as the knowledge about and regulation of one’s cognitive activities in learning processes (Flavell, 1979; Brown, 1978). Subsequent development and definition of the term concerns the thinking about thinking process and learning how to learn (Tsung, 2012). For example, in Cross and Paris (1988, p. 131), metacognition was defined as “the knowledge and control children have over their own thinking and learning activities”; and as Baird (1990) summarized, metacognition refers to “the knowledge, awareness and control of one’s own learning” (p.184).

According to Flavell (1979; 1987), metacognition can be classified into metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experiences or regulation. Metacognitive knowledge refers to the acquired world knowledge that is related to cognitive matters and can be used to control cognitive processes (Flavell, 1987). This knowledge can be subdivided into three categories, including person variables, task variables, and strategy variables. Knowledge of person variables refers to learners’ knowledge or beliefs about how human beings and they themselves learn and deal with information as cognitive processors. Knowledge of task variables includes knowledge about how the nature of a task and the type of processing needed can influence the performance.

Knowledge of strategy variables refers to learners’ understanding about the values of different strategies and how to use them to enhance learning.

As for metacognitive experiences, Flavell (1987) defined them as “conscious experiences that are cognitive and affective” (p.24). To be more specific, metacognitive experiences are feelings and judgments/estimates that learners may have before, after or during learning or information processing (Efklides, 2006). Such experiences often occur when cognitions break down, such as the sudden sinking feeling learners may have when failing to remember what they have learned during a test (Flavell, 1981). Both metacognitive knowledge and experiences guide people to select, evaluate, revise, or abandon cognitive tasks, goals, and strategies (Hacker 1997). Studies have been done to discuss how they interact with and facilitate each other. For example, Flavell (1979) argues that metacognitive experiences are important for the development and refinement of metacognitive knowledge because they allow learners to monitor and regulate their cognitive processes. Later, Schraw (1998) notes that a number of empirical studies have found that metacognitive knowledge appears to enhance metacognitive regulation and they are correlated with each other.

Furthermore, attention also have been paid to the research on the components of metacognition (Brown, 1987; Flavell, 1987; Jacobs & Paris, 1987; Pintrich, Wolters,

& Baxter, 2000; Schraw, 1998; Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Schraw & Moshman, 1995;

Winne & Hadwin, 1998). Many researchers agree that metacognition comprises two major components, knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition (Brown, 1987; Flavell, 1987; Jacobs & Paris, 1987; Schraw, 1998; Schraw & Dennison, 1994;

Schraw & Moshman, 1995). According to Schraw and Moshman (1995), knowledge about cognition refers to “what individuals know about their own cognition or about cognition in general” (p.352). The knowledge consists of three kinds of metacognitive awareness, including declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge (Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Schraw & Moshman, 1995). As Schraw and Dennison (1994) defined in their study, declarative knowledge is “knowledge about self and strategies”, procedural knowledge is “knowledge about how to use strategies”, and conditional knowledge is “knowledge about when and why to use strategies”

(p.460). Moreover, regulation of cognition refers to “a set of activities helping students control their learning” (Schraw, 2001, p.4). The knowledge for these series of activities can be divided into planning, monitoring or regulating and evaluation (Cross

& Paris, 1988; Schraw & Moshman, 1995; Schraw, Crippen, & Hartley, 2006).

Planning involves how to identify and select appropriate strategies to use. It also includes the allocation of resources such as setting, activating background knowledge, and budgeting time. Monitoring or regulating involves learners’ on-line attention to and awareness of comprehension and task performance. Self-testing while learning can also be included in the activities. Evaluation is defined as “appraising the products and regulatory processes of one’s learning”, and it includes revisiting and revising one’s goals (Schraw et al., 2006, p.114). According to some researchers (Brown, 1987;

Flavell, 1987; Jacobs & Paris, 1987; Baker, 1989), knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition believed to be correlated.

Although metacognition is generally considered to consist of two components, there are still different ways of classification. For example, in Pintrich, Wolters, and Baxter (2000), the researchers suggest three components of metacognition:

metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive monitoring, and self-regulation and control.

The first component, metacognitive knowledge, refers to cognitive learning strategies which learners use to regulate the process of knowledge acquisition. The strategies include memory strategies such as note taking and elaboration strategies such as the building of links to prior knowledge (Cubukcu, 2008). The second group, metacognitive monitoring, consists of metacognitive control strategies. The strategies are concerned with planning and monitoring of learning activities, the evaluation of learning outcomes and the adaptation of the use of strategies to meet task demands.

The third category in the model developed by Pintrich and Garcia (1994) involves resource management and self-management. The control of the general conditions associated with learning, such as the management of time and environment, is the

core of the group of strategies.

In addition, in the model developed by Winne and Hadwin (1998), the function of metacognition includes four stages: task understanding, goals setting and planning, study tactics enacting, and metacognition evaluating and adapting. While processing a learning task, learners first construct an understanding of the assigned or chosen task.

And they will set goals for the task by making use of the information from the first stage or other metacognitive knowledge. In the next stage, learners choose and implement strategies for learning. The final stage involves learners’ adjustment of strategies and plans to facilitate the cognitive process based on their own learning outcomes. Despite the divergence in details among the attempts to conceptualize metacognition, they all indicate that learners’ personal selection and implement of knowledge and strategies are related to outside learning environment (Tsung, 2012).