How the construct of metacognition has contributed to translational research in education, mental health, and beyond.

Abstract

Metacognition research dates back decades and remains a thriving field of scientific inquiry. From its inception, the construct was translational in nature, but only after years of research do we have the privilege of reflecting on the many basic and applied aspects of our knowledge about metacognition. Here, we discuss the metacognition literature from historical and translational-phase perspectives to support thinking about how to move this research from basic knowledge to real-world application. Translational metacognitive research in humans appears to be characterized by 2 traditions, 1 concerned with normative child development and its implications for educational settings, the other concerned with where metacognition goes awry in states of clinical psychological or neurological illness. The articles in this special issue represent these 2 subareas nicely, while at the same time explicitly calling for integrative research and unified definitions of metacognition. In addition to its valuable contributions to psychological science, this journal’s requirement that trainees be represented at all levels of the publication and editorial process has provided rich learning opportunities for trainees and their mentors, enhancing professional experience and establishing connections between metacognition researchers across the world. As all work represented in Translational Issues in Psychological Science (TPS) is written for a general audience, we hope the many intellectual and real-world fruits of this special issue reach far and wide.

Antecedents and Consequences of Grit Among Working Adults: A Transpersonal Psychology Perspective

“…The positive association between grit and metacognition found in the present research can be attributed to the metacognitive processes in which individuals and teams engage in, during crucial decision making tasks ( McCarthy and Garavan, 2008 ). Metacognition has been studied in conjunction with theory of mind, social cognition and self-regulation ( Baker et al, 2020 ) and it has also been identified important to study job-seeking behaviours and job-search outcomes, as the process of seeking and finding jobs requires metacognitive skills, implying the ability to set goals, plan, develop and strategise their job search progress and job performance ( Mikulecky and Ehlinger, 1986 ; Turban et al, 2009 ; Kanar and Bouckenooghe, 2021 ). The other transpersonal capital of optimism also positively correlates with grit, consistent with previous studies ( Steinfort, 2015 ; Clement et al, 2020 ; Loftus et al, 2020 ; Oriol et al, 2020 ; Kim and Lee, 2021 ).…”

Presenting the Meta-Performance Test, a Metacognitive Battery based on Performance

“…The Meta-Performance Test takes the consensus built by the field of metacognition as a reference for the definition of its components. There is a relative consensus that metacognition consists basically of two major domains: (1) metacognitive knowledge and (2) control or regulation of cognition (e.g., Baker et al, 2020;Dent & Koenka, 2016;Ohtani & Hisasaka, 2018). The metacognitive knowledge about cognition (also called knowledge about cognition) refers to the individual's knowledge or beliefs about the variables that interact and can affect the course and results of cognitive tasks (Flavell, 1979).…”

Closing the gap in research training: The first years of Translational issues in psychological science.

“…As a result, the research could be applied in multiple ways-to physical and mental health treatment, to the development of new psychological tools and measures, to organizational policies and practices, to educational practices, and to policy at the organizational, state, or federal levels. Some TPS issues focused on a psychological concept or theory, such as metacognition (Baker et al, 2020), incentives and motivation (Silverman et al, 2016), or positive psychology (Titova et al, 2018), with the articles showing how research in that area has been applied in multiple ways and settings, while other TPS issues kept the focus close in, looking at how psychological science can be advanced through improved research training (Fried et al, 2020), animal models (Threlkeld et al, 2019), and quantitative methods (Depaoli et al, 2018).…”

“…Some TPS issues focused on a psychological concept or theory, such as metacognition (Baker et al, 2020), incentives and motivation (Silverman et al, 2016), or positive psychology (Titova et al, 2018), with the articles showing how research in that area has been applied in multiple ways and settings, while other TPS issues kept the focus close in, looking at how psychological science can be advanced through improved research training (Fried et al, 2020), animal models (Threlkeld et al, 2019), and quantitative methods (Depaoli et al, 2018).…”