The Past, Present, and Future of Research on Metacognitive Development

In 1979, John Flavell published “Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry”. In this piece, he highlighted the role of metacognition—the ability to reflect on, reason about, and control one’s own mental processes—in a wide variety of cognitive tasks, ranging from language acquisition and memory to problem solving and decision-making.​  In the decades that followed, the study of metacognitive development became a vibrant area of research. 

In honor of John Flavell (1928 - 2025), this preconference workshop aims to reflect on the progress the field has made and promote discussions across disciplines to raise new questions. We hope you will join us!

Opening remarks: The 'Past'
8:30 - 8:40 AM

We will begin the workshop with a brief remark on the initial work that identified metacognition as a meaningful psychological construct and its key contributions to the field.

Main sessions: The 'Present'

Six leading researchers will share the latest advances in the field, integrating perspectives from developmental, cognitive, and comparative science.

Session 1
8:40 - 9:50 AM

Simona Ghetti: The Emergence of Metacognition
Carolyn Baer:  Signal Sources for Children's Metacognition
Azzurra Ruggeri: The Developmental Emergence of Deliberate Ignorance: Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Drivers

Coffee break
9:50 - 10:00 AM

Session 2
10:00 - 11:10 AM

Jan Engelmann:  Rational Thought in Chimpanzees and Human Children
Alexandra Rosati: The Development of Metacognition in Primates
Jessica Sommerville: From Metacompetence to Metacognition

Speaker panel discussion & closing remarks: The 'Future'
11:10-11:30 AM

Drawing on the diverse insights from our speakers,  our final session will feature a panel discussion to identify outstanding questions and promising areas for future research.