Human Behavior Research: Understanding the Power of Self-Awareness Through the Evaluation of Metacognition and Cognitive Learning Styles

Introduction

The philosopher Confucius famously said, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest” (Gonzalez-Perez & Taras, 2015). The concept of metacognition, originally coined by Flavell (1979), is defined as “cognition about cognition or thinking about one’s own thinking” (Hartman, 2001, pg. xi). As Confucius examined, self- reflection (a crucial piece of metacognition), is a vital part of gaining wisdom and learning. Metacognition includes “reasoning about reasoning, reasoning about learning, and learning about reasoning (Kralik et al., 2018). A simple form of metacognition would be when a student considers various studying strategies to learn material for a test. In this case, the student would be thinking about how to go about learning most effectively.

This review aims to define the power metacognition holds, particularly in fostering learning, through the discussion of various models and theories. Metacognition is directly tied to human performance because people with higher metacognitive skills show better performance and more expertise in their domain (Schraw, 1998). Because of the strong tie to human performance, it is crucial for experience designers to understand how to effectively leverage the use of metacognition in every interaction they design, from websites to physical products. This review also aims to explain the relationship between metacognition and cognitive learning styles. All interactive experiences require learning, so it is beneficial to design experiences in a way that facilitates metacognition, manages cognitive load, and aligns with people’s preferred learning styles. The remainder of this review will evaluate the Albert mobile app, an app that facilitates saving money and learning about personal finance strategies, and how the app aligns with learning styles and developing metacognitive skills.

Metacognition Overview

Metacognition and executive function are interrelated concepts tied to thinking and learning because they are both “higher-order cognitive processes” that develop as children grow (Kuhn, 2000; Roebers, 2016). Yuki (2019) clarifies that metacognition exists within the Executive Function associated with the medial prefrontal-parietal network; therefore, “metacognition is considered to be the behavioral output of executive function” (Stucke, 2017). Stucke explains how reading comprehension requires both: metacognition is needed to strategize about skills like re-reading, while the executive function is needed to hold the information to be comprehended in working memory. Building a metacognitive strategy allows people to find something that works for them, like relating to prior experiences, which “reduces memory load [to] promote a deeper level of understanding” (Schraw, 1998).

Metacognition matters and is fundamental for survival because it affects the human performance of comprehension, learning, critical and reflective thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, and retention (Sengul, 2012; Hartman, 2001). Schraw (1998) explains the two main components of metacognition are knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. Cognitive knowledge includes declarative knowledge “about” things, procedural knowledge of “how” to do things, and conditional knowledge of “why” and “when” (Schraw, 1998). Regulation of cognition includes planning and selecting strategies, monitoring performance and self-awareness, and evaluating efficiency and effectiveness of reaching goals (Schraw, 1995, 1998; Jacobs & Paris, 1987). Flavell’s idea of metacognition is similar by recognizing metacognitive knowledge and experiences, goals/tasks, and actions/strategies (1979). In summary, metacognition is an iterative process: (step 1) self-assessment of where one stands in their mind, (step 2) setting goals of where one wants to be and what they want to achieve, (step 3) creating and choosing a strategy and plan, and (step 4) self-monitoring of progress and performance to make adjustments and modifications. Understanding metacognition and how to further develop one’s metacognitive skills is powerful because humans can then use their metacognitive knowledge to maximize learning per their preferred learning style.