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Vol. 13 No. 33 (2022)
Education in rural contexts, perspectives and experiences

Investigación y pedagogía

Exploring the connection between executive functions and metacognition: Do the former predict the latter?

https://doi.org/10.19053/22160159.v13.n33.2022.12500

Published 2022-04-04

  • Antonio Gutierrez
    • ,
  • Diana Montoya

Antonio Gutierrez
Georgia Southern University

Diana Montoya
Universidad de Caldas

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the empirical connections between executive functions (EFs), subjective metacognitive awareness (knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition), and objective metacognitive monitoring (absolute accuracy and absolute bias). More specifically, the predictive effect of EFs on metacognition was examined in a sample of Colombian university students. The results showed that EFs best predicted the subjective cognition knowledge but were the least predictive for the regulation of subjective cognition. Regarding objective measures, the EFs best predicted the absolute accuracy of monitoring. Likewise, predictive patterns across subjective and objective metacognition differed, although the “proverb selection” (an EF associated with the region of the anterior prefrontal cortex of the brain that measures the ability to understand, compare, and select answers with a figurative meaning) predicted everything but the absolute bias of monitoring. At the end, implications for theory and research are discussed and recommendations for practice are given.

Keywords

adult learning, cognition, comprehension, neuropsychology

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