Two experiments investigated the development of metacognitive monitoring and control, and conditions under which children engage these processes. In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds (N = 30) and 7-year-olds (N = 30), unlike adults (N = 30), showed little evidence of either monitoring or control. In Experiment 2, 5-year-olds (N = 90) were given…

Recent studies have shown that the metacognitive judgments adults infer from their experiences of encoding effort vary in accordance with their naive theories of intelligence. To determine whether this finding extends to elementary schoolchildren, a study was conducted in which 27 third graders (M[subscript age] = 8.27) and 24 fifth graders…

Investigated four to six year olds' understanding of cognitive cuing in two experiments that used a strategic interaction paradigm. (PCB)

Investigated children's causal-explanatory conceptions of the workings of a labeling strategy. The 72 children of four-six years showed two types of conceptions, both of which increased with age. (RJC)

Four-year olds, 6-year olds, and adults were given a computer-game mental rotation task, but with no instructions on mental rotation or other mental activity. Reaction time patterns and verbal reports revealed that 6-year olds were comparable to adults in spontaneous use and subjective awareness of mental rotation. Four-year olds who referred to…

Acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of organizational strategies were studied in two experiments as a function of impulsivity-reflectivity and metamemory among primary school students. Findings are in line with the hypothesis that metamemory, rather than cognitive tempo, mediates the effectiveness of an experimenter-trained strategy in…

Two studies traced the development of metacognitions about self-control in children from preschool through grade 6. Results indicated that children begin to understand two basic rules for effective delay of gratification by about the end of their fifth year. (Author/MP)

In a series of three experiments, first-, second-, third-, and fourth-grade children were asked to recall the names of their classmates. Assessment of their organization according to various classroom groupings (e.g., seating arrangement and reading group) was then performed. (Author/MP)

Interviewed 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and 10-year olds, and adults regarding their knowledge about primary-consciousness, reflective-consciousness, and control activities. Found that the recognition that people do not engage in conscious mental activities when unconscious is still developing during the late middle-childhood years. (Author/KB)

Three studies used illustrated stories to examine preschoolers' understanding of emotional changes when memories of past events were cued by objects in the current environment. Found substantial development between 4 and 6 years in understanding the influence of mental activity on emotions. The strength and consistency of this knowledge was…

Examines preschool children's ability for advance planning and mishap prevention or remediation related to familiar events. Indicates that children three to five years old appear to use general event knowledge in constructing verbal plans. However, developmental differences in the quality of plans suggests that the ability of using general…

Investigates increased use of metacognition (i.e., monitoring comprehension, developing expectations, learning information sampling strategies) as reading ability develops among sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade pupils and high school students. (Author/RH)

Four experiments investigated children's ability to notice and remember events in which the acquisition of factual information occurs. Results indicated that children tend to report they have known newly learned information for a long time, suggesting that children have some understanding of knowledge acquisition, but not at the level of adults.…

Investigates the metalinguistic ability of monolingual or bilingual children between five and nine years of age on two language tasks (grammaticality judgment and correction). (HOD)

Examined 8- and 10-year olds' understanding of the unique features of and potential relations among mental activities. Found a developing tendency to organize mental activities on the degree to which memory was a component of the activity. Results suggest that a constructivist theory of mind develops in later childhood. (AA)