This chapter aims at depicting the development of metacognitive knowledge from early childhood through early adolescence. Children’s ability to reflect on their mental states develops rapidly in early childhood, beginning around the age of three. Thus the chapter first discusses important precursors of metacognitive knowledge, in particular, the correct use of mental verbs and the development of a “theory of mind.” Subsequently, it highlights essential stages in the acquisition of declarative metacognitive knowledge, with an emphasis on knowledge about the effectiveness of different strategies. Next, it discusses how and when important aspects of procedural metamemory, that is, monitoring and self-control, develop in childhood and how they interact. It then discusses developmental trends in the relationship between metamemory and memory in more detail. Finally, it presents attempts to assess and foster metacognitive skills in applied settings and discusses possible future directions of research on the development of metacognition.

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The two studies presented here were conducted to explore the relationship between metacognitive monitoring and control processes across the life-span. Monitoring processes often guide control processes (goal-oriented learning), yet more recent work also documents that control processes can also be based on feedback from monitoring processes (data-oriented learning). Study 1 provided first evidence for data-oriented learning in older adults and in a life-span perspective. Participants of four age groups (third-grade children, adolescents, younger and older adults) were able to adapt their Judgments-Of-Learning (JOLs) based on their Study Time (ST). Effects were most pronounced for younger and older adults. Study 2 investigated the flexible interplay between goal-and data-oriented learning within one learning task for the first time in older adults and from a life-span perspective. Adolescents and younger adults were able to switch between models while elementary children and older adults hat greater difficulties to do so. Possible causes for developmental trends are discussed. In sum, the integration of both goal-and data-oriented learning within one task seems to be a complex process.

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