This paper investigates the role of specific and general metacognitive ability on specific and general academic achievement, controlling for the effects of intelligence. Four hypotheses were elaborated and empirically tested through structural equation modelling. The sample was composed by 684 students (6th to 12th graders) from a private Brazilian school, which answered to three intelligence tests and three metacognitive tests. The modeled hypotheses presented a good data-fit (χ2 = 51.18; df = 19; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = 0.05), showing that the general metacognitive ability explained general academic achievement rather than intelligence, but did not explain specific academic achievement. On the other hand, specific metacognitive ability explained specific academic achievement rather than intelligence, but did not explain general academic achievement. The predictive power of the general metacognitive ability was greater than fluid intelligence in the explanation of general academic achievement. In the same line, specific metacognitive ability had a greater predictive power than intelligence and specific knowledge in the explanation of specific academic achievement. Finally, a new structural model of metacognition and its role in academic achievement are proposed.
Bianchi, G. A. (2008). Effects of Metacognitive Instruction on the Academic Achievement of Students in the Secondary Sciences (Doctoral Dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database (UMI No. 3272507).
Bigozzi, L., de Bernart, D., & Del Vecchio, P. (2007). Apprendimento e metacognizione: Gli effetti di un training di potenziamento nel primo ciclo di scuola primaria. Psicologiadell’educazione, 1, 371-384.
Blank, L. M. (2000). A Metacognitive Learning Cycle: A Better Warranty for Student Understanding? Science Education, 84, 486-506. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1098-237X(200007)84:4 3.0.CO;2-U
Blunch, N. J. (2008). Introduction to Structural Equation Modelling Using SPSS and AMOS. California: SAGE Publications.
Brockelman, K. (2009). The Interrelationship of Self-Determination, Mental Illness, and Grades among University Students. Journal of College Student Development, 50, 271-286. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0068
Brody, N. (1997). Intelligence, Schooling, and Society. American Psychologist, 52, 1046-1050. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.10.1046
Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytical Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511571312
Carroll, J. B. (1995). On Methodology in the Study of Cognitive Abilities. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 30, 429-452. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3003_6
Carroll, J. B. (2003). The Higher-Stratum Structure of Cognitive Abilities: Current Evidence Supports g and about Ten Broad Factors. In H. Nyborg (Ed.), The Scientific Study of General Intelligence: Tribute to Arthur R. Jensen (pp. 1-20). Oxford: Elsevier Science/Pergamon Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-008043793-4/50036-2
Ceci, S. (1991). How Much Does Schooling Influence General Intelligence and Its Cognitive Components? A Reassessment of the Evidence. Developmental Psychology, 27, 703-722. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.27.5.703
Colom, R., & Flores-Mendoza, C. (2007). Intelligence Predicts Scholastic Achievement Irrespective of SES Factors: Evidence from Brazil. Intelligence, 35, 243-251. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.07.008
Csíkos, C., & Steklacs, J. (2010). Metacognition-Based Reading Intervention Programs among Fourth-Grade Hungarian Students. In A. Efklides, & P. Misailidi (Eds.), Trends and Prospects in Metacognition Research (pp. 345-366). New York: Springer Science + Business Media.
Deary, I. J., Strand, S., AIth, P., & Fernandes, C. (2007). Intelligence and Educational Achievement. Intelligence, 35, 13-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.02.001
Desoete, A., & Roeyers, H. (2002). Off-Line Metacognition: A Domain-Specific Retardation in Young Children with Learning Disabilities? Learning Disability Quarterly, 25, 123-139. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1511279
DiStefano, C., Zhu, M., & Mindrila , D. (2009). Understanding and Using Factor Scores: Considerations for the Applied Researcher. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 14, 1-11.
Embretson, S., & Reise, S. P. (2000). Item Response Theory for Psychologists. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
Epskamp (2013). semPlot: Path Diagrams and Visual Analysis of Various SEM Packages’ Output. R Package Version 0.3.3. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=sem
Floyd, R. G., McGrew, K. S., Barry, A., Rafael, F., & Rogers, J. (2009). General and Specific Effects on CattellHorn-Carroll Broad Ability Composites: Analysis of the Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update Cattell-Horn-Carroll Factor Clusters across Development. School Psychology Review, 38, 249-265.
Freudenthaler, H., Spinath, B., & Neubauer, A. (2008). Predicting School Achievement in Boys and Girls. European Journal of Personality, 22, 231-245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.678
Gagne, F., & St Père, F. (2002). When IQ Is Controlled, Does Motivation still Predict Achievement? Intelligence, 30, 71-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(01)00068-X
Glaser, R., Schauble, L., Raghavan, K., & Zeitz, C. (1992). Scientific Reasoning across Different Domains. In E. De Corte, M. C. Linn, H. Mandl, & L. Verschaffel (Eds.), Computer-Based Learning Environments and Problem Solving (pp. 345-371). Berlin: Springer-Verlag. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77228-3_16
Glucksberg, S., & McCloskey, M. (1981). Decisions about Ignorance: Knowing that You Don’t Know. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 7, 311-325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.7.5.311
Golino, H. F., & Gomes, C. M. A. (2011). Preliminary Internal Validity Evidences of Two Brazilian Metacognitive Tests. Testing International, 26, 11-12.
Gomes, C. M. A., & Borges, O. N. (2009). Qualidades Psicometricas do Conjunto de Testes de Inteligencia Fluida. Avaliacao Psicologica, 8, 17-32.
Gomes, C. M. A., & Golino, H. F. (2012). O que a inteligencia prediz: Diferencas individuais ou diferencas no desenvolvimento academico? Psicologia: Teoria e Pratica (Online), 14, 126-139.
Gottfredson, L. S. (2002a). g: Highly General and Highly Practical. In R. J. Sternberg, & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), The General Factor of Intelligence: How General Is It? (pp. 331-380). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gottfredson, L. S. (2002b). Where and Why g Matters: Not a Mystery. Human Performance, 15, 25-46.
Guay, F., Marsh, H., & Boivin, M. (2003). Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement: Developmental Perspectives on Their Causal Ordering. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 124-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.95.1.124
Guay, F., Ratelle, C., Roy, A., & Litalien, D. (2010). Academic Self-Concept, Autonomous Academic Motivation, and Academic Achievement: Mediating and Additive Effects. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 644-653. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.08.001
Gustafsson, J., & Undheim, J. (1996). Individual Differences in Cognitive Functions. In Handbook of Educational Psychology (pp. 186-242). New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA.
Hart, J. T. (1965). Memory and the Feeling-of-Knowing Experience. Journal of Educational Psychology, 56, 208-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0022263
Juliebo, M. F., Malicky, G. V., & Norman, C. (1998). Metacognition of Young Readers in an Early Intervention Programme. Journal of Research in Reading, 21, 24-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.00040
Kelemen, W. L., Frost, P. J., & Weaver, C. A. I. (2000). Individual Differences in Metacognition: Evidence against a General Metacognitive Ability. Memory & Cognition, 28, 92-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03211579
Klin, C. M., Guzman, A. E., & Levine, W. H. (1997). Knowing that You Don’t Know: Metamemory and Discourse Processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23, 1378-1393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.23.6.1378
Koriat, A. (1993). How Do We Know What We Know? The Accessibility Model of the Feeling of Knowing. Psychological Review, 100, 609-637. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.609
Koriat, A. (1995). Dissociating Knowing and the Feeling of Knowing: Further Evidence for the Accessibility Model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, 311-333. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.124.3.311
Kuncel, N. R., Hezlett, S. A., & Ones, D. S. (2004). Academic Performance, Career Potential, Creativity, and Job Performance: Can One Construct Predict Them All? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 148-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.148
Markman, E. M. (1977). Realizing that You Don’t Understand: A Preliminary Investigation. Child Development, 48, 986-992.
Markman, E. M. (1979). Realizing that You Don’t Understand: Elementary School Children’s Awareness of Inconsistencies. Child Development, 50, 643-655. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1128929
McCormick, C. B. (2003). Metacognition and Learning. In I. B. Weiner, D. K. Freedheim, W. M. Reynolds, J. A. Schinka, & G. E. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology: Educational Psychology (pp. 79-102). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/0471264385.wei0705
McGrew, K. S. (2009). CHC Theory and the Human Cognitive Abilities Project: Standing on the Shoulders of the Giants of Psychometric Intelligence Research. Intelligence, 37, 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2008.08.004
McGrew, K. S., & Wendling, B. J. (2010). Cattell-Horn-Carroll Cognitive-Achievement Relations: What We Have Learned from the Past 20 Years of Research. Psychology in the Schools, 47, 651-675.
Naglieri, J., & Bornstein, B. (2003). Intelligence and Achievement: Just How Correlated Are They? Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 21, 244-260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/073428290302100302
Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard Jr., T. J., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern, D. F., Loehlin, J. C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R. J., & Urbina, S. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns. American Psychologist, 51, 77-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.51.2.77
Nelson, T. O., Gerler, D., & Narens, L. (1984). Accuracy of Feeling-of-Knowing Judgments for Predicting Perceptual Identification and Relearning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 282-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.113.2.282
Newton, J. H., & McGrew, K. S. (2010). Introduction to the Special Issue: Current Research in Cattell-Horn-Carroll-Based Assessment. Psychology in the Schools, 47, 621-634.
Schraw, G. (1998). Promoting General Metacognitive Awareness. Instructional Science, 26, 113-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1003044231033
Schraw, G., & Nietfeld, J. (1998). A Further Test of the General Monitoring Skill Hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 236-248. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.90.2.236
Spinath, B., Spinath, F., Harlaar, N., & Plomin, R. (2006). Predicting School Achievement from General Cognitive Ability, Self-Perceived Ability, and Intrinsic Value. Intelligence, 34, 363-374. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.11.004
Spinath, F. M., Spinath, B., & Plomin, R. (2008). The Nature and Nurture of Intelligence and Motivation in the Origins of Sex Differences in Elementary School Achievement. European Journal of Personality, 22, 211-299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.677
Steinmayr, R., & Spinath, B. (2009). The Importance of Motivation as a Predictor of School Achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 80-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2008.05.004
Van der Stel, M., & Veenman, M. (2008). Relation between Intellectual Ability and Metacognitive Skillfulness as Predictors of Learning Performance of Young Students Performing Tasks in Different Domains. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 128-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.08.003
Van der Stel, M., & Veenman, M. (2010). Development of Metacognitive Skillfulness: A Longitudinal Study. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 220-224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.11.005
Veenman, M. J., Elshout, J. J., & Meijer, J. (1997). The Generality vs Domain-Specificity of Metacognitive Skills in Novice Learning across Domains. Learning and Instruction, 7, 187-209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(96)00025-4
Veenman, M. V. J. (1993). Intellectual Ability and Metacognitive Skill: Determinants of Discovery Learning in Computerized Environments. Dissertation, Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Veenman, M. V. J., & Beishuizen, J. J. (2004). Intellectual and Metacognitive Skills of Novices While Studying Texts under Conditions of Text Difficulty and Time Constraint. Learning and Instruction, 14, 621-640. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.09.004
Veenman, M. V. J., & Spaans, M. (2005). Relation between Intellectual and Metacognitive Skills: Age and Task Differences. Learning and Individual Differences, 15, 159-176. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2004.12.001
Veenman, M. V. J., & Verheij, J. (2003). Technical Students’ Metacognitive Skills: Relating General vs. Specific Metacognitive Skills to Study Success. Learning and Individual Differences, 13, 259-272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1041-6080(02)00094-8
Veenman, M. V. J., Kerseboom, L., & Imthorn, C. (2000). Test Anxiety and Metacognitive Skillfulness: Availability versus Production Deficiencies. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 13, 391-412. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615800008248343
Veenman, M. V. J., Kok, R., & Blote, A. W. (2005). The Relation between Intellectual and Metacognitive Skills in Early Adolescence. Instructional Science, 33, 193-211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11251-004-2274-8
Veenman, M. V. J., Van Hout-Wolters, B. H. A. M., & Afflerbach, P. (2006). Metacognition and Learning: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations. Metacognition and Learning, 1, 3-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11409-006-6893-0
Veenman, M. V. J., Wilhelm, P., & Beishuizen, J. J. (2004). The Relation between Intellectual and Metacognitive Skills from a Developmental Perspective. Learning and Instruction, 14, 89-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2003.10.004
Veenman, M. V., & Elshout, J. J. (1991). Intellectual Ability and Working Method as Predictors of Novice Learning. Learning and Instruction, 1, 303-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0959-4752(91)90011-V
Victor, A. (2005). The Effects of Metacognitive Instruction on the Planning and Academic Achievement of First and Second Grade Children. Doctoral Dissertation, Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database. (UMI No. 3152786)
Watkins, M., Lei, P., & Canivez, G. (2007). Psychometric Intelligence and Achievement: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis. Intelligence, 35, 59-68.
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (1992). The Development of Achievement Task Values: A Theoretical Analysis. Developmental Review, 12, 265-310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0273-2297(92)90011-P
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (2000). Expectancy-Value Theory of Achievement Motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015
Winne, P. H., & Nesbit, J. C. (2010). The Psychology of Academic Achievement. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 653-678.