Abstract
This paper reports two related studies intended to explore the interactions between children’s metacognitive abilities, their working memory capacity, the development and selection of strategies and their performance on problem-solving tasks. In the first study, a sample of 20 children aged 5 and 6 were presented with a reclassification task. In the second study, a sample of 72 children aged 6, 8 and 10 were presented with a multidimensional discrimination learning (MDL) task. Data was collected related to the children’s metacognitive abilities, working memory capacity, response strategies and task performance. The results indicated that performance on both tasks was dependent upon developmentally changing interactions between these various aspects of cognitive functioning. In particular, the relationship of working memory capacity to performance was dependent upon metacognitive abilities. The results also suggested that metacognitive awareness did not directly affect performance, but that such a relationship was dependent upon the development of strategic control. The implications of these results for understanding U-shaped behavioural growth and other common developmental patterns are discussed. Within the educational sphere, the study emphasises the significance and possibility for children as learners of fostering certain kinds of metacognitive ability.
Résumé
Cet article rapporte les résultats de deux recherches destinées à explorer les interactions entre capacités métacognitives de l’enfant, capacité de la mémoire de travail, développement et sélection de stratégies, et performances à des tâches de résolution de problème. Dans la première étude, un échantillon de 20 enfants âgés de 5 ou 6 ans, était soumis à une tâche de reclassification. Dans la deuxième recherche, un échantillon de 72 enfants âgés de 6, 8 ou 10 ans était confronté à une tâche d’apprentissage de discrimination multidimensionnelle. Les résultats montrent que les performances aux deux tâches, dépendent des changements développementaux dans l’interaction entre les différents aspects du fonctionnement cognitif cités plus haut et mesurés dans cette recherche. En particulier, les relations entre mémoire de travail et performance dépendent des compétences métacognitives. Les résultats montrent aussi que la conscience métacognitive n’affecte pas directement les performances, mais que la relation entre les deux dépend du développement du contrôle stratégiques. Les explications des ces résultats pour l’interprétation des patrons de développement courants ou des évolutions en forme de U sont discutées. Dans le champ de l’éducation, l’étude contribue à mettre en valeur l’intérêt et la possibilité d’encourager le développement de certains types de capacités métacognitives.
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Whitebread, D. Interactions between children’s metacognitive abilities, working memory capacity, strategies and performance during problem-solving. Eur J Psychol Educ 14, 489–507 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172975
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172975