Educational Psychology & Metacognition

What is functionalism in educational psychology?

A focus on how learning helps solve real-life problems, not just lab-based theories.

What did John Dewey's believe about learning?

Students learn best by doing hands-on projects and reflecting on their experiences.

What is behaviorism role in education?

Focus on observable behavior shaped by rewards and punishments.

Why was WWII important for curriculum design?

Psychologists created step-by-step training to quickly teach large groups essential skills.

What is the cognitive revolution in education?

A shift toward studying memory, schemas, and thinking processes inside the mind.

What is metacognition?

Thinking about your own thinking—awareness and control of how you learn or solve problems.

What is metamemory?

Your knowledge about how well you remember and what strategies you use to improve memory.

What are the three types of metaknowledge?

Declarative (what you know), Procedural (how you use it), Conditional (when/why to use it).

What was the procedure and dependent measure of Winer et al. Endorsement of Extramission: Metaknowledge study?

Adults chose between diagrams showing vision, with a dependent measure of how often they chose the incorrect extramission diagram.

What did Winer et al. find out about vision beliefs? (Endorsement of Extramission: Metaknowledge)

Many adults wrongly believed vision comes out of the eyes, showing persistent misconceptions.

What was the Change blindness blindness study, and how was it tested?

Participants predicted they'd notice changes, then watched a video to test actual detection rate vs. predicted.

What is Metacognitive control?

Using awareness to plan, monitor, and adjust your learning in real time.

What was the procedure and dependent measures of Nelson et al.'s study on (Metamemory/metacognitive control)?

Participants studied word pairs, gave JOLs, then made FOK judgments during recall.

What did Nelson et al. find about metamemory (Metamemory/metacognitive control)?

People often overestimate memory ability; there's a gap between judgment and actual performance.

Why does inaccurate metacognition hurt studying?

You might spend too much time on what you already know and too little on what you don’t.

What is the ICAP framework?

A hierarchy of learning engagement: Interactive > Constructive > Active > Passive.

Whatt was the procedure and findings of Chi & Wylie (2014) study (OG ICAP FRAMEWORK)

More interactive learning led to better memory and understanding.

What was the goal of the Zepeda article?

To link metacognitive strategies to ICAP and understand how self-reports relate to performance.

Who were the participants in the Zepeda study, and why were both open and closed questions used?

342 undergrads in a psych course; open and closed questions served to reveal new strategies and required judgment.

What were the key findings of the Zepeda article?

Students who used constructive strategies (e.g., self-explaining, self-testing) scored higher on exams. Active strategies (e.g., highlighting) weren’t linked to better performance. Students underreported strategy use in open-ended responses and rarely mentioned time management, despite its importance.

What was the procedure and dependent measures of Brod et al. (2017) study? (Effects of schooling on basic Cognitive Skills)

Compared 1st graders and kindergartners using inhibitory control tasks, measuring accuracy, reaction time, and brain activation.

What did the Brod et al. study find (Effects of schooling on basic Cognitive Skills)?

1st graders performed better on inhibitory control, showing domain-general skill growth.

What is the Hearts and Flowers task and how is it structured?

Children respond to hearts (same side) and flowers (opposite side), requiring rule-switching and working memory.

What was the procedure and finding in the Hearts and Flowers task?

Pre-test in September, post-test in June; 1st graders improved in attention, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility.

What domain-general skills improved with formal schooling?

Attention, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility—all essential for academic success.