Metacognition theory by john flavell biography

Flavell invited the academic community to come forth with additional metamemory research, and this theme of metacognitive research has continued more than thirty years later. He implied with his statements that metacognition is intentional, conscious, foresighted, purposeful, and directed at accomplishing a goal or outcome. These implications have all been carefully scrutinized in subsequent research, and in some cases have been the subjects of controversy among researchers in metacognition.

In his article, Flavell recognized that metacognition consisted of both monitoring and regulation aspects. It was here that the term metacognition was first formally used in the title of his paper. He defined metacognition as follows: "In any kind of cognitive transaction with the human or non-human environment, a variety of information processing activities may go on.

Metacognition refers, among other things, to the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in service of some concrete goal or objective. Hacker offered a more comprehensive definition of metacognition, to include the knowledge of one's own cognitive and affective processes and states as well as the ability to consciously and deliberately monitor and regulate those processes and states.

These were: a The child learns to identify situations in which intentional, conscious storage of certain information may be useful at some time in the future; b the child learns to keep current any information which may be related to active problem-solving, and have it ready to retrieve as needed; and c the child learns how to make deliberate systematic searches for information which may be helpful in solving a problem, even when the need for it has not been foreseen.

Flavell was another seminal paper. In this work Flavell acknowledged the explosion of interest and work in areas related to metacognition, such as oral skills of communication, persuasion and comprehension, reading, writing, language acquisition, memory, attention, problem-solving, social cognition, affective monitoring, and self-instruction.

In the paper, Flavell proposed a formal model of metacognitive monitoring to include four classes of phenomena and their relationships. The four classes included a metacognitive knowledge, b metacognitive experiences, c tasks or goals, and d strategies or activities. Flavell's model will be further described in the section on the theories of metacognition.

The first attempt to generate a formal model of metacognition was presented by Flavell He acknowledged the significance of metacognition in a wide range of applications which included reading, oral skills, writing, language acquisition, memory, attention, social interactions, self-instruction, personality development and education.

Flavell mentioned that components of metacognition can be activated intentionally, as by a memory search aimed at retrieving specific information, or unintentionally, such as by cues in a task situation. Metacognitive processes can operate consciously or unconsciously and they can be accurate or inaccurate. They can also fail to be activated when needed, and can fail to have adaptive or beneficial effect.

Metacognition can lead to selection, evaluation, revision or deletion of cognitive tasks, goals, and strategies. They can also help the individual make meaning and discover behavioral implications of metacognitive experiences. In his paper, Flavell proposed a formal model of metacognitive monitoring which included four classes of phenomena and their relationships.

The four classes were a metacognitive knowledge, b metacognitive experiences, c tasks and goals, and d strategies or actions. Each of these will be discussed in detail. Figure 1 is a concept map showing the components of Flavell's model. The first of Flavell's classes was metacognitive knowledge, which he defined as one's knowledge or beliefs about the factors that effect cognitive activities.

The distinction between cognitive and metacognitive knowledge may lie in how the information is used, more than a fundamental difference in processes. Metacognitive activity usually precedes and follows cognitive activity. They are closely interrelated and mutually dependent. Metacognitive knowledge can lead the individual to engage in or abandon a particular cognitive enterprise based on its relationship to his interests, abilities and goals.

Flavell described three categories of these knowledge factors: 1 Person variables 2 task variables, and 3 strategy variables. These are the three categories in which Flavell proposed that individuals have metacognitive knowledge. The person category of knowledge includes the individual's knowledge and beliefs about himself as a thinker or learner, and what he believes about other people's thinking processes.

That same year, Flavell traveled to Paris for additional studies at the Sorbonne. Flavell's research at Rochester focused on children's understanding of the roles of others and on children's communication skills and developing memory skills. He first evaluated the skills needed for role-taking, the understanding of what another person sees, knows, needs, and intends to do.

He metacognition theory by john flavell biography that children whose parents talk to them often about emotions and feelings develop these skills at an earlier age. Inhe moved to the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota as a professor of psychology. There he continued his work on the cognitive development of children.

While researching the development of memory skills in children, Flavell found that children need to understand the concept of memory before they can develop skills for utilizing and improving memory. He called this knowledge "metamemory. Inhe became a professor of psychology at Stanford University. There he continued his involvement with professional organizations.

Metacognition theory by john flavell biography

He served as president of the Society for Research in Child Development from to In Flavell was presented with the G. Greene, have studied preschoolers at the Bing Nursery School on the Stanford campus. They have also studied elementary-school and college students. In recent years, Flavell has researched and developed his theory of "metacognition" or "metaconsciousness," which is a child's understanding about the workings of the human mind and her own thought processes.

In their research, they have found that preschoolers understand that thinking is a human, mental activity and that it can involve things that are in the past or in the present, real or imaginary. They distinguish thinking from other activities such as talking, feeling, seeing, or knowing. However preschoolers greatly underestimate the amount that they and others think, and they have difficulty perceiving that other people think.

In other projects. Wikidata item. American developmental psychologist and professor born For those of a similar name, see John Flavel disambiguation. Early life [ edit ]. Education [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Research [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. October International Journal of Psychology. ISSN References [ edit ]. November 9, Retrieved December 20, This concept is extensively used in the field of educational psychology as it places high emphasis on learning.

This process is a multifaceted concept and there are three different kinds of metacognition. It is what individuals know about themselves and their internal thought processes. This can be explicit and implicit. Explicit metacognitive knowledge occurs at a conscious level, and it can be verbally expressed. Implicit metacognitive knowledge is not as apparent, but they work indirectly in many cognitive processes such as memory, heuristics mental shortcuts to reach immediate conclusions and biases in making judgments.

Flavell went on to further divide metacognitive knowledge into three different types. Metacognitive experiences are interpretations of cognitive experiences. It is to give a label to the internal psychological processes. For example, when a person experiences the sensation of dullness, irritability and lack of motivation, they conclude and label their momentary feeling as sadness.

These are strategies people employ to control their cognitive systems. These strategies can be used to suppress or intensify thinking strategies. There are five thought control strategies such as reappraisal, punishment, social control, worry and distraction. Children are usually poor at this. However, as they grow, they learn to strategize and manage cognitions.

There are various skills required for metacognitive regulation to occur.