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American Psychologist Volume 34 Issue 10 1979 (Doi 10.1037 - 0003-066x.34.10.906) Flavell, John H.
American Psychologist Volume 34 Issue 10 1979 (Doi 10.1037 - 0003-066x.34.10.906) Flavell, John H.
Preschool and elementary school children were velopment of metacognition and of cognitive mon-
asked to study a set of items until they were sure itoring/regulation is currently emerging as an in-
they could recall them perfectly (Flavell, Fried- teresting and promising new area of investigation.
richs, & Hoyt, 1970). The older subjects studied What might there be for a child or adolescent to
for a while, said they were ready, and usually learn in this area? That is, what adultlike knowl-
were, that is, they showed perfect recall. The edge and behavior might constitute the develop-
younger children studied for a while, said they mental target here, toward which the child gradu-
were ready, and usually were not. In another ally progresses? The following model is my at-
study, elementary school children were asked to tempt to answer this question. For further details
help the experimenter evaluate the communicative about the model see my papers on the subject
adequacy of verbal instructions, indicating any (Flavell, Note 2, Note 3).
omissions and obscurities (Markman, 1977). Al-
though the instructions were riddled with blatant
omissions and obscurities, the younger subjects
A Model of Cognitive Monitoring
were surprisingly poor at detecting them. They I believe that the monitoring of a wide variety of
incorrectly thought they had understood and could cognitive enterprises occurs through the actions of
follow the instructions, much as their counterparts and interactions among four classes of phenomena:
in the study by Flavell et al. (1970) incorrectly (a) metacognitive knowledge, (b) metacognitive
thought they had memorized and could recall the experiences, (c) goals (or tasks), and (d) actions
items. (or strategies). Metacognitive knowledge is that
Results such as these have suggested that young segment of your (a child's, an adult's) stored
children are quite limited in their knowledge and world knowledge that has to do with people as
cognition about cognitive phenomena, or in their cognitive creatures and with their diverse cognitive
metacognition, and do relatively little monitoring tasks, goals, actions, and experiences. An example
of their own memory, comprehension, and other would be a child's acquired belief that unlike many
cognitive enterprises (see, e.g., Brown, 1978; Fla- of her friends, she is better at arithmetic than at
vell, 1978; Flavell & Wellman, 1977; Kreutzer, spelling. Metacognitive experiences are any con-
Leonard, & Flavell, 1975; Flavell, Note 1, Note 2, scious cognitive or affective experiences that ac-
Note 3; Markman, Note 4). Investigators have company and pertain to any intellectual enter-
recently concluded that metacognition plays an prise. An example would be the sudden feeling
important role in oral communication of informa- that you do not understand something another
tion, oral persuasion, oral comprehension, reading person just said. I assume that metacognitive
comprehension, writing, language acquisition, at- knowledge and metacognitive experiences differ
tention, memory, problem solving, social cognition, from other kinds only in their content and func-
and, various types of self-control and self-instruc- tion, not in their form or quality. Goals (or tasks)
tion; there are also clear indications that ideas
about metacognition are beginning to make con-
The preparation of this essay was supported by National
tact with similar ideas in the areas of social learn- Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant
ing theory, cognitive behavior modification, per- NDMH 10429.
Requests for reprints should be sent to John H. Flavell,
sonalty development, and education (Flavell, Note Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford,
1, Note 2, Note 3). Thus, the nature and de- California 94305.
Paul J. Cryan