Metacognition is the ability to monitor and control one's own cognitive processes, with higher-order mechanisms assessing the performance of lower-level cognitive operations to determine subjective confidence. An open question is whether metacognitive capacity is domain-general, akin to a conductor overseeing various sections of an orchestra, or whether it is inherently coupled to each domain, resembling a collection of specialized musical directors for each instrument group. Previous studies attempting to address this question have suffered from methodological drawbacks, such as a lack of control over cognitive sensitivity and low statistical power. In this confirmatory, pre-registered study, we addressed this gap by testing metacognitive ability in visual perceptual, memory, and general knowledge domains using a newly developed adaptive 'trivia' task spanning judgments about nutrition and global economics. We found substantive correlations in metacognitive bias and efficiency across domains, even when controlling for cognitive ability, suggesting up to 15-20% shared variance in metacognition across different modalities. Surprisingly however, we found the lowest correlation in metacognition between the two general knowledge domains, despite these tasks being matched on performance and surface-level features. Our results broadly support the existence of a metacognitive "g-factor," excluding several important methodological confounds; while also highlighting the importance of further research into inter-individual differences in metacognitive priors which may explain the lower correlations between the different knowledge domains.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.