The development of metacognitive accuracy in working memory across childhood.

Abstract

Growth in working memory capacity, the number of items kept active in mind, is thought to be an important aspect of childhood cognitive development. Here, we focused on participants’ awareness of the contents of their working memory, or meta-working memory, which seems important because people can put cognitive abilities to best use only if they are aware of their limitations. In two experiments on the development of meta-working memory in children between 6 and 13 years old and adults, participants were to remember arrays of colored squares and to indicate if a probe item was in the array. On many trials, before the probe recognition test, they reported a metajudgment, how many items they thought they remembered. We compared meta-working memory judgments to actual performance and looked for associations between these measures on individual and trial-by-trial levels. Despite much lower working memory capacity in younger children there was little change in meta-working memory judgments across age groups. Consequently, younger participants were much less realistic in their metajudgments concerning their working memory capability. Higher cognitive capacity was associated with more accurate meta-working memory judgments within an age group. Trial-by-trial tuning of metajudgments was evident only in young adults and then only for small array set sizes. In sum, meta-working memory ability is a sophisticated skill that develops with age and may be an integral aspect of the development of working memory across the school years.

Developmental differences in the impact of perceptual salience on short-term memory performance and meta-memory skills

“…Metacognitive skills are fundamental to promote the individual’s cognitive development, both in general (e.g. 48 , 49 , 55 ) and specifically in relation to STM/working memory development 53 , 54 . For instance, Forsberg and colleagues 54 compared meta-working memory judgments to actual performance in children between 6 and 13 y.o.…”

“… 48 , 49 , 55 ) and specifically in relation to STM/working memory development 53 , 54 . For instance, Forsberg and colleagues 54 compared meta-working memory judgments to actual performance in children between 6 and 13 y.o. and adults.…”

“… 21 ) and meta-memory skills (e.g. 54 ) across these ages. Children’s performance was compared to a group of young adults (18 y.o.)…”

“…children than the working memory training alone. Moreover, a growing body of literature on the development of meta-memory abilities across age suggests a higher tendency in overestimating own memory abilities in children compared to young adults 54 , 55 . In the current study, we aim to glean a more complete picture of the development of meta-memory skills abilities at different ages, by investigating whether the higher versus lower perceptual salience of the to-be-remembered target would differentially affect the correct estimation of one own’s memory performance as a function of developmental stage.…”

Effects of Cognitive Training upon Working Memory in Individuals with ADHD: An Overview of the Literature

“…Specifically on the relation of metacognition and working memory, Forsberg et al (2021) showed that younger children poorly estimate their working memory performance, although they become increasingly better at doing it with age. In this study, these authors asked typically developing children of different ages (9 to 13) and adults to judge their own accuracy in a working memory recognition test (i.e., memorize an array of objects and recognize a probe item as part of the array).…”