Thinking About Thinking

1. Thinking about Thinking

The ancient Greek philosopher thought that thinking occurs in a two part process. In the first part we are aware of our previous knowledge. In the second part we take in new information to add new knowledge or to change our previous understanding. In other words, thinking is a process of considering how new knowledge impacts our existing thoughts and beliefs. The 17th century French philosopher René Descartes went further when he claimed "I think, therefore I am" (in Latin this is "Cogito, ergo sum" so this statement is sometimes called the "cogito"). For Descartes the act of thinking itself proved his existence. If there is thought, there is a thinker. Descartes uses his ability to think about thinking to prove that he exists. Whether we approach this as Aristotle or as Descartes, we can see that there are real opportunities that happen when we think about thinking. This “thinking about thinking” is called metacognition.

Thinking critically means that you start to question the significance of new information, how that information might relate to what you already know, whether the information is accurate, or how the information might challenge your own beliefs about the world. It also means reviewing your own thoughts and thought processes.

Image CT-R01 Facebook-like site with a meme saying CAT ELECTED MAYOR OF SMALL TOWN, MAKES NAPS MANDATORY

Everyday examples of metacognition are considering whether a meme is true or wondering why you crave ice cream when you’re not really hungry. You may be tempted to believe the meme because you want it to be true, or dismiss it because you don’t want it to be true; recognizing your own tendency to do so is a form of metacognition. Similarly, when you realize that you don’t need more ice cream, you are monitoring your own impulsive thoughts. You may even go further and realize you only want to eat because you need stimulation, and go for a walk instead. In both cases you are practicing metacognition.

term to know

Metacognition:

Thinking about thinking, or being in a state where we are aware of our own thought processes.

2. Paying Attention to Your Thought Process

Professional athletes watch footage of their performance, and work with coaches to improve specific aspects of their approaches. If a baseball pitcher recognizes that his curveball has not worked recently, he may watch video so he can analyze every move he makes. He and his coaches may notice a slight difference they can remedy during practice to improve the pitch.

In the same way, we can become stronger critical thinkers by reviewing and analyzing our mental processes. We can even have “coaches,” like teachers and mentors, help us analyze and perfect our thinking.

EXAMPLE

Dara’s goal is to be more optimistic and not dwell on negative thoughts. She analyzes her own processes to see how she ends up feeling anxious and sad, and realizes it often starts when her friends talk about politics, or when she dwells on annoying situations she cannot control. She asks her friends nicely to not to talk to her about politics, not because she disagrees with them, but because it makes her anxious. She also stops herself when she finds she is fixated on annoying situations she cannot control, like the neighbors being loud or inconsiderate drivers on the road. Over time she might find new habits, like talking to her friends about actions they can take to make the world a better place, or listening to audiobooks in the car so she doesn’t think about other drivers.

think about it

Think of a mental habit you want to change, like finding the motivation to exercise, or having more patience with your children. What metacognitive steps can you take to change the way you think?

3. Using Metacognitive Strategies

Using metacognitive strategies, or techniques that guide your thoughts, can help you become a stronger critical thinker. It can also help you make life changes, since many problems begin with cognition. Developmental psychiatrist John Flavell coined the term “metacognition” and divided the practice into three processes:

1. Planning
2. Tracking
3. Assessing

Using these planning, tracking, and assessing strategies will help you progress as a learner in all subjects, whether academic, professional, or personal.

try it

Angie is learning how to cook high-end meals. She watches videos of chefs, picks a meal that looks good, and chooses an evening to make the special meal for her family. Once she is in the middle of the process she realizes there are too many things going on at once—she’s washing and slicing the mushrooms when the onions start to burn, and it’s all downhill from there. Why did it look so easy when the YouTube chef did it? She realizes that in the videos, the chefs had all of their ingredients ready to go at the beginning of the video and could focus on the cooking. She resolves to do this, and to also watch the videos not just for the cooking itself but to see how chefs prepare and organize their ingredients.

Can you see the three parts of metacognition in this scenario?

Preparing: Angie watches videos to mentally practice what she is going to do.
Tracking: Angie realizes she cannot manage all of the tasks at once.
Assessing: Angie evaluates the way she cooked, and the way she used the instructional videos, to improve future performance and future learning.

Imagine how much more effective you could be if you were able to prepare before any situation happens. Just the act of pausing to think through the potential consequences is a good first step to using metacognition to make better decisions and have better outcomes. For example, you know better how to study for the next test. You might read up to better argue your point next time, or learn strategies for avoiding the argument in the first place. You can consider what you’ll do the next time you’re in a crisis, and even practice in your imagination, an effective practice psychologists call visualization.

term to know

Metacognitive Strategies

Techniques that guide your thoughts.

4. Metacognition and Bias

Metacognition is the best tool for overcoming bias, a mental habit of favoring some people, ideas, or information over other people, ideas, or information, usually in a way that is unfair or illogical. For example, most people only choose to read and believe the news that supports their opinions. It is also common to only remember the information that supports prior opinions, even if someone reads a range of views. One study found that the more educated a person was, the more bias they had to remember only information that supported their position (Frost, et al., 2015).

Bias is most associated with unconscious decisions about other groups, positive or negative, but there are many forms of bias you will learn about in the next Challenge. Some are due to culture and upbringing, others are just how our brains work. Everyone is subject to bias, whether they know it or not. Knowing that you are vulnerable to bias is a key metacognitive strategy to overcoming it.

In Context: Overcoming Bias

Let’s see how someone can apply the three metacognition skills to dealing with bias. Damon is reviewing proposals for small business grants in his community. He is one of a small committee that gets to decide who gets the grants.

In preparation, he realizes he has to set aside his personal preferences in reviewing the applications. He reminds himself that can’t select a bookstore for funding just because he likes bookstores, and exclude a bowling alley because he’s never liked the game. Instead, he tells himself that as he reads the proposals he will ask the question: “Will this serve the community?” And not “Will this serve me?” In this way he prepares his thinking to remove bias.

Damon tracks his own evaluation process not for just personal preferences, but other ways that bias might creep in. For example, he knows that if he can only send three proposals into the final committee review, so he might be quick to dismiss those he reads after he finds three strong proposals. Instead, he puts no limits on the size on the number of grants he sets aside on the first reading that he thinks are strong. Once he’s made his first pass through the applications, he shuffles the “strong” pile and reads through again to pick three.

After he is finished, Damon might assess his own methods for removing bias. For example, while names are removed from the applications, he knows the community well, and could guess who almost all the applications are from. He did his best to remove any personal feeling from the process, but wonders if there’s a way to avoid that bias in the future, such as scoring rubric that evaluates each proposal based on specific criteria.

term to know

Bias

A mental habit of favoring some people, ideas, or information over other people, ideas, or information, usually in a way that is unfair or illogical.

REFERENCES

Frost, P., Casey, B., Griffin, K., Raymundo, L., Farrell, C., & Carrigan, R. (2015). The Influence of Confirmation Bias on Memory and Source Monitoring. The Journal of general psychology, 142(4), 238–252. doi.org/10.1080/00221309.2015.1084987

Parrott, J.M., Ashby, D. J., & Collins, J. (2022). The Commons: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric. Encompass. encompass.eku.edu/ekuopen/4