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Individual differences in metacognition: Evidence against a general metacognitive ability

  • Published: January 2000
  • Volume 28, pages 92–107 (2000)
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Individual differences in metacognition: Evidence against a general metacognitive ability
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  • William L. Kelemen1,
  • Peter J. Frost1 &
  • Charles A. Weaver2 
  • 6279 Accesses

  • 209 Citations

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Abstract

Individual differences in metacognitive accuracy are generally thought to reflect differences in metacognitive ability. If so, memory monitoring performance should be consistent across different metacognitive tasks and show high test-retest reliability. Two experiments examined these possibilities, using four common metacognitive tasks: ease of learning judgments, feeling of knowing judgments, judgments of learning, and text comprehension monitoring. Alternate-forms correlations were computed for metacognitive accuracy (with a 1-week interval between tests). Although individual differences in memory and confidence were stable across both sessions and tasks, differences in metacognitive accuracy were not. These results pose considerable practical and theoretical challenges for metacognitive researchers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri

    William L. Kelemen & Peter J. Frost

  2. Rivier College, Nashua, New Hampshire

    Charles A. Weaver

Authors
  1. William L. Kelemen
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  2. Peter J. Frost
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  3. Charles A. Weaver
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles A. Weaver.

Additional information

This work was supported by a Baylor University Research Council award to C.A.W. Portions of these data were presented in November 1997 at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Philadelphia. The authors thank Asher Koriat, Ruth Maki, Tom Nelson, and Roddy Roediger for insightful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

—Accepted by guest action editor, Henry L. Roediger, III

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Kelemen, W.L., Frost, P.J. & Weaver, C.A. Individual differences in metacognition: Evidence against a general metacognitive ability. Memory & Cognition 28, 92–107 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211579

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  • Received: 09 February 1999

  • Accepted: 09 February 1999

  • Issue date: January 2000

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211579

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Keywords

  • Paired Associate
  • Bias Score
  • Memory Accuracy
  • Discrimination Score
  • Metacognitive Ability

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