The authors studied the effects of aging on the flexible use of categorization rules based on thematic and taxonomic relations. Two components of flexibility were distinguished: maintenance of a categorical relation, and switching between two relations. Results showed that age affects these two components. In older adults, an effect of the nature of the categorical relations to be used was revealed. Older adults demonstrated a specific difficulty in the flexible use of taxonomic relations. Moreover, all adults, independent of their age, showed better performance in maintaining the use of a categorical relation than in switching between two categorical relations.

BackgroundThe Metacognitive Affective Model of SRL (MASRL) considers the relationships between metacognition, motivation, and affect. Notably, it provides a theoretical framework to understand how subjective experiences (metacognition and affect) change self‐regulation from a top‐down to a bottom‐up process and vice versa.AimsThe study examines the link between metacognition and emotional regulation in the everyday problem‐solving performance of children in elementary school. Emotional regulation is studied from the angle of coping strategies.Sample(s)Participants were 269 children aged 8.17–11.66 years old (Mean = 9.8, SD = 0.88).MethodsThey completed a French version of the ‘The Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire’ developed by Efklides and Petkaki (2005, Learning and Instruction, 15, 415) and the Kidcope (Spirito et al., 1988, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 13, 555) to measure the coping strategies before and after solving the everyday problem taken from ‘The Everyday Cognition Battery’ (Allaire & Marsiske, 1999, Psychology and Aging, 14, 261).ResultsThe results indicate that several metacognitive experiences are significantly linked to solving everyday problems, in particular the feeling of difficulty. The other results of our study show that no single coping strategy was linked to problem‐solving performance but that the three coping strategies (i.e., emotional outburst, blaming others, and magical thinking) are linked to metacognitive experiences.ConclusionsThe results highlight the importance of emotional regulation on cognitive performance, both before and after solving the problem. These findings have important implications for teachers, who should be aware of the effect that a feeling of difficulty may have on solving a given problem.

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