Do children have insights into their performance in an inhibitory control task?: An explorative study with 9- and 11-year-olds

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Development
• Educational Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Accurate self-evaluation is a crucial metacognitive skill for learning.
• This skill develops gradually during childhood.
• Understanding developmental trajectories is key for educational interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the alignment between performance and self-evaluation in children.
• To investigate age-related differences in this alignment.
• To assess the impact of practice on self-evaluation accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an adaptation of the Hearts and Flowers task.
• Assessed performance and self-evaluations in 3rd and 5th graders.
• Analyzed data for age and practice effects on metacognitive accuracy.

Main Results:

• Children's self-evaluations significantly predicted their performance accuracy.
• This performance-self-evaluation alignment was stronger in 5th graders than 3rd graders.
• Alignment improved with repeated practice and self-evaluation across both age groups.

Conclusions:

• Developmental differences in metacognitive monitoring exist between 3rd and 5th graders.
• Older children exhibit enhanced performance monitoring abilities.
• Practice and self-evaluation opportunities can foster metacognitive development and improve inhibitory control.