“I know my idea is original!” Creative metacognitive monitoring and regulation in kindergarten children

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between kindergarteners’ creative performance, global metacognitive monitoring (i.e., the ability to self-evaluate their overall creative performance) and metacognitive regulation (i.e., the ability to select their most original idea). Prior research established a positive correlation between metacognitive accuracy in global self-evaluation and creativity in adults, but little is known about how these relate to idea selection in younger populations. The study involved fifty 4- to 6-year-olds who completed two creativity tasks (an Unusual Uses Task and a Product Improvement Task) and selected their most original idea for each. The results showed a moderate correlation between the children's ability to select their most original ideas for the two tasks, which suggests that metacognitive skills are transferable within the domain of creativity already at this age. Additionally, there was a moderate-to-strong trend in children capable of accurately identifying original ideas and the ability to perform more creatively, which is in line with previous findings in adults. Furthermore, children who displayed higher metacognitive accuracy in global self-evaluation were also better at metacognitive regulation, i.e., they were better capable of selecting their most original idea. However, even the children who performed best in idea selection tended to overestimate their overall creative performance. The study provides insights into the early development of creative metacognitive monitoring and regulation, and suggests potential implications for fostering creativity in education.