Metacognitive Skill Training Research Articles

Meta‐cognitive skills training enhances computerized cognitive remediation outcomes among individuals with first‐episode psychosis

Meta-cognitive skills training (MST) is a frequent component of cognitive remediation programmes for individuals with psychosis. However, no study has investigated whether incorporating such activities produces increased clinical benefits compared with computerized cognitive remediation alone. Individuals with first-episode psychosis who completed computerized cognitive remediation with concurrent meta-cognitive skills training (CCR + MST) were compared with a historical control group who received computerized cognitive remediation alone (CCR) and did not differ from the CCR + MST group with regard to pre-intervention cognition, diagnosis, age, duration of psychotic illness or sex. Participants completed assessments of cognition and real-world functioning before and after 6 months of treatment. Individual receiving CCR + MST experience greater gains in cognition and real-world functioning than individuals who received CCR. MST may be an important component within cognitive remediation programmes for first-episode psychosis.

Associations of symptoms, neurocognition, and metacognition with insight in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Many persons with schizophrenia experience poor insight and, as a result, are at risk for treatment non-adherence and numerous negative outcomes. However, to date, the etiology of poor insight has not yet been fully elucidated. One recent theory concerning the roots of poor insight in schizophrenia has proposed that it may result, in part, from impairments in metacognition, or the capacity to think about thinking. The present study thus aims to examine whether metacognition is associated with insight even after controlling for the effects of psychiatric symptomatology and neurocognition. In this study, 95 adults with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were assessed on measures of insight (i.e., awareness of symptoms, treatment needs, and illness consequences), psychiatric symptoms (i.e., positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and general psychopathology), neurocognitive functions (i.e., executive function, memory, and attention), and metacognitive capacities (i.e., self-reflectivity and theory of mind). Univariate correlations followed by stepwise multiple regressions, which controlled for symptoms and neurocognition, indicated that both self-reflectivity and theory of mind were significantly linked with awareness of symptoms; theory of mind was linked with awareness of treatment needs; and self-reflectivity was linked with awareness of illness consequences. Importantly, these findings suggest that metacognitive capacities may be related to insight independent of concurrent psychiatric symptoms and neurocognitive deficits. Moreover, awareness of different facets of the illness may require contributions from different components of metacognition. Future research should investigate how existing metacognitive skill training programs could potentially be tailored, or modified, to help persons with schizophrenia to develop and enhance insight.

Meta-cognitive skill training programme for first-year bachelor students using thinking process externalisation environment

We think that to acquire a skill for co-creating knowledge with others cooperatively, it is important to develop meta-cognitive skill, but to do so is not straightforward. In this paper, we attempt to design a thinking skill particularly meta-cognitive skill development curriculum for first-year bachelor-degree students on the basis of the results obtained in two preceding studies that we have performed for postgraduate education and those engaged in medical services. To deal effectively with new learning for first-year bachelor students - 'thinking about thinking' - we designed a curriculum that gives students a knowledge co-creation programme and thinking externalisation tool to devote attention to the thinking process and to have the bodily sensation of its meaning, and we put it into practice. This paper describes a learning model for thinking skill, which is fundamental to appropriate curriculum design, and discusses the design intention of a curriculum conforming to it and the usefulness of the learning programme through examples of using the thinking externalisation tool in practice. Results show that the learning programme developed in this study is useful for cultivating the meta-cognitive skill of bachelor students.

Easy task first? Roles of metacognitive computer skills training strategies depend on how training tasks are sequenced

Easy task first? Roles of metacognitive computer skills training strategies depend on how training tasks are sequenced

Error self-regulation following traumatic brain injury: A single case study evaluation of metacognitive skills training and behavioural practice interventions

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of metacognitive skills training (MST) and behavioural practice on error self-regulation during a naturalistic task after traumatic brain injury (TBI). A single-case study design was used and three participants (two males, one female) aged 26–43 years with severe TBI were included in the study. In the first study, after a four-session baseline of behavioural practice, two participants received eight MST sessions followed by four maintenance sessions. In the second study, a third participant received 16 sessions of behavioural practice to assess the extent to which error self-regulation improves through long-term task practice and therapist corrections. Participants prepared two different meals with a novel meal introduced later to examine skills generalisation. Behavioural outcomes included error frequency, checking and self-corrections. Data analysis involved a combination of visual analysis and two standard deviation (2-SD) band analysis. In the MST study, the two participants demonstrated a 38% and 76% reduction in error frequency (p < .05), a significant decrease in checks (p < .05), and a significant increase in self-corrections (p < .05) relative to baseline. In the behavioural practice study, the participant demonstrated reduced errors (25%), although this was not statistically significant, and a significant increase in checks (p < .05), but self-corrections did not significantly change (p > .05). This exploratory research suggests that, firstly, by targeting error self-regulation MST can potentially promote independence on complex everyday tasks; and secondly, although behavioural practice alone may facilitate some functional gains, it fails to promote more independent self-regulatory behaviours.

Technical students' metacognitive skills: relating general vs. specific metacognitive skills to study success

The first objective of this study was to determine whether metacognitive skillfulness is entirely part of intelligence as predictor of learning or not. Furthermore, the generality vs. domain-specificity of metacognitive skillfulness was investigated. Sixteen technical university students participated in the experiment. They performed two tasks while thinking aloud, a model construction task that was part of their curriculum and an unfamiliar discovery–learning task representing a fictitious domain. Both the participant's metacognitive skillfulness and learning performance were assessed for each domain. Furthermore, exam grades and study credits were collected. Results support the generality of metacognitive skills across tasks and domains. Results further show that metacognitive skillfulness contributed to learning results (partly) independent of intellectual ability. Implications for metacognitive skill training are being discussed.

The generality vs domain-specificity of metacognitive skills in novice learning across domains

A first objective of this study is to determine the generality versus domain-specificity of the metacognitive skills that students bring into new learning situations. Additionally, this study addresses the relationship between intelligence and metacognitive skillfulness as predictors of novice learning. Fourteen high or (relatively) low intelligent psychology freshmen (novices in the domains of physics and statistics) participated in the experiment. Subjects passed through three different simulation environments representing physics, statistics, and a fictitious domain. Both the subject's metacognitive skillfulness and learning performances were assessed for each domain. Results support the generality of novice metacognitive skills across domains. Furthermore, metacognitive skillfulness contributes to novice learning partly independent of intellectual ability. Implications for metacognitive skill training are being discussed.

Reciprocal teaching of reading comprehension in a New Zealand high school

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a trial implementation of reciprocal teaching procedures by high school teachers to address reading comprehension deficits in a group of their students. Forty-six students with the lowest scores on a standardized test of reading comprehension in seven eighth-grade classes participated in the study. Following 3 hours of instruction in reciprocal teaching procedures, four classroom teachers and two support teachers ran eight reciprocal teaching groups. Four of these groups, 20 students in all, were exposed to between 12 and 16 reciprocal teaching sessions, while 15 students in the other four groups received between six and eight sessions. The remaining 11 students served as a no-treatment comparison group. Pre- and posttest scores on the standardized test served as the dependent measure. Significant gains were observed with students in the extended program, with no significant differences observed between the short program and comparison groups. Follow-up assessments of extended program students between 3 and 7 months later showed a maintenance of comprehension gains. Implications for high schools are discussed in terms of the absence of student progress with insufficient spaced practice in metacognitive skill training and strategic resourcing for remedial comprehension instruction.

Basal reader instruction: Effects of comprehension monitoring training on reading comprehension, strategy use and attitude

Abstract The efficacy of a metacognitive instructional strategy for use with basal readers in improving reading comprehension, strategy use, and attitude toward reading was investigated. Thirty‐one children in two fourth‐grade classrooms served as subjects in the experiment. Twenty students in a self‐contained classroom served as the treatment group while eleven students in a second self‐contained classroom served as the control. All subjects in both groups were administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Reading Attitude Inventory, and the Index of Reading Awareness in September prior to the treatment and again at the end of the treatment the following May. The experimental treatment was based on the instructional strategies proposed by Schmitt and Baumann (1986) that describe how teachers can incorporate the use of comprehension monitoring strategies into the guided reading phase of basal reader instruction. Results indicated that children can be taught how to use metacognitive reading strategies and techniques during basal reader instruction. Average fourth‐grade readers who received metacognitive skills training had greater reading comprehension, greater knowledge about reading strategies, and more positive attitudes toward reading than children in the control group.