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Using Scaffolding to Examine The Development of Metacognitive Monitoring and Control

O'Leary, Allison Paige
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492172107513459

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Metacognition describes the ability to represent and access our own cognitive processes. This ability is crucial for understanding and optimizing how we learn and remember, allowing us to avoid strategies that have not worked for us in the past, and to continue using strategies that have. Metacognition has been described as involving two components, monitoring and control, which may have different developmental trajectories. In the current project, we addressed several remaining questions about metacognition and its development. How do monitoring and control develop? How do these components interact? Is metacognitive proficiency malleable in childhood? What kinds of information do children rely on to monitor and control behavior? In 8 experiments, these questions were addressed by using scaffolding such as feedback and strategy instruction to improve metacognitive performance across the lifespan. In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, and adults’ metacognitive monitoring and control were tested in a task that required them to initiate these processes spontaneously, demonstrating developmental differences in both monitoring and control. In Experiment 2, 5-year-olds were presented with performance feedback, strategy instruction, or both to assess their effects on the monitoring and control components. Whereas feedback influenced task monitoring, it did not influence metacognitive control. In addition, whereas strategy instruction improved control, it did not influence performance monitoring. These findings were expanded upon in Experiments 3, 4, and 5, wherein 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, and adults were provided with no scaffolding, strategy instruction, or feedback, respectively, to assess whether monitoring and control can function independently. Across the age groups, feedback improved performance monitoring, but not metacognitive control. In addition, strategy instruction improved control, but not performance monitoring. These findings suggest a dissociation between the monitoring and control components that persists from early childhood to adulthood. Experiments 6a -7b addressed whether young children’s demonstrated insensitivity to feedback (in terms of metacognitive control) was due to insufficient separation between the task success probabilities used. These findings suggested that young children could rely on feedback to control behavior, but only when reward probabilities were sufficiently separated. On the other hand, young children seemed to rely on differences in effort to monitor the task difficulty. In the prior experiments it was found that young children are able to form and use a strategy to optimize their performance in a task. Experiment 8 assessed whether 5-year-old children are able to transfer a learned strategy to a novel task with different stimulus characteristics. It was found that children who were trained and learned to use a strategy rule transferred this strategy more readily to a novel task than did those who (1) received training but did not learn the strategy or (2) did not receive strategy training. These results are discussed in relation to theories of metacognition development, the role of task success representations in metacognition, and the broader implications of the current findings.
Vladimir Sloutsky (Advisor)
Andrew Leber (Committee Member)
John Opfer (Committee Member)
139 p.
Developmental Psychology; Psychology
Cognitive development; metacognition; metacognitive control; monitoring; strategy use

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • O'Leary, A. P. (2017). Using Scaffolding to Examine The Development of Metacognitive Monitoring and Control [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492172107513459

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • O'Leary, Allison. Using Scaffolding to Examine The Development of Metacognitive Monitoring and Control. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492172107513459.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • O'Leary, Allison. "Using Scaffolding to Examine The Development of Metacognitive Monitoring and Control." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492172107513459

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1492172107513459
556
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.