Metacognition in young children: Current methodological and theoretical developments

Abstract

The established orthodoxy within metacognition research has been that metacognitive skills emerge around the age of 8-10 years. However, this position has been challenged by recent research at both the methodological and theoretical levels. Methodologically, it is now recognised that research relying on self-report or verbally-based methodologies may significantly underestimate the metacognitive performance of young children. Recent studies have used observations of children's behaviours in naturalistic settings and found evidence of metacognitive and self-regulatory behaviours in much younger children. This methodological advance is closely tied to the development of theoretical models of the emergence of metacognition and its relation to other early cognitive developments. This chapter reviews current research using observational methods, and tasks which reduce the dependence on young children's verbal abilities, which has explored metacognitive development in typically developing young children, and in young children with learning and motor difficulties. Within the typically developing group, studies are reported which have explored the relation between early metacognition and inhibition, theory of mind and conceptual development. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.