Can Metacognition be Related to Motivation?
Metacognition is related to motivation because it affects attribution and self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s own ability to succeed in a particular situation. It plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached.
People with strong self-efficacy see challenges that can be mastered, they develop deeper interests in activities, have stronger commitment and dedication to their interests, and are more resilient from failure. Weak self-efficacy, however, is characterized by avoidance of challenging tasks, believe that they cannot accomplish a difficult task or situation, focus on personal failures and negative outcomes, and are quick to lose confidence in own abilities.
Metacognition has two characteristics:
- One being that the thinker knows about their own and others' thought processes
- Other is that they can pay attention to and change their own thinking
Due to the latter characteristic, it makes sense that self-efficacy plays a large role, such that a person with developed metacognition can recognize and change their own thinking, that they can change the way they see their own abilities. Therefore, increasing their self-efficacy, and in turn, increasing their intrinsic motivation due to self-efficacy acting as an internal reward.
As Carnoldi suggests, when students feel confident they can solve problems, they do better work. This emphasizes the fact that self-efficacy can be a trigger for students interests, therefore, increased motivation.
Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s own ability to succeed in a particular situation. It plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached.
People with strong self-efficacy see challenges that can be mastered, they develop deeper interests in activities, have stronger commitment and dedication to their interests, and are more resilient from failure. Weak self-efficacy, however, is characterized by avoidance of challenging tasks, believe that they cannot accomplish a difficult task or situation, focus on personal failures and negative outcomes, and are quick to lose confidence in own abilities.
Metacognition has two characteristics:
- One being that the thinker knows about their own and others' thought processes
- Other is that they can pay attention to and change their own thinking
Due to the latter characteristic, it makes sense that self-efficacy plays a large role, such that a person with developed metacognition can recognize and change their own thinking, that they can change the way they see their own abilities. Therefore, increasing their self-efficacy, and in turn, increasing their intrinsic motivation due to self-efficacy acting as an internal reward.
As Carnoldi suggests, when students feel confident they can solve problems, they do better work. This emphasizes the fact that self-efficacy can be a trigger for students interests, therefore, increased motivation.
The following chart shows the direct relationship between metacognition and motivation :
Metacognition
|
Motivation
|
1) Judgements of task difficulty as a function of one's own experience
- Performance Predictions
- Action Planning - Choice of Appropriate Strategies |
- Performance Expectations
- Setting Aspiration Levels - Effort Allocations |
2) Causal attributions for success and failure
- Knowledge of Own Cognitive Competence
- Metacognitive Judgements about the Determinants of Performance - Predictions of Future Performance |
- Self Concept of Own Ability
- Individual Attribution Style - Predictions of Future Performance |
3) Evaluation of Action Outcomes
- Metacognitive Knowledge about Task and Person Variables
- Evaluation of Correct and Incorrect Judgement - Improvement of Task-related Metacognitive Knowledge |
- Use of Self-relevant Evaluation Criteria
- Subjective Experience of Success and Failure - Emotional Reactions and their Consequences |