Focusing the uncertainty about nonhuman metacogntion

by Robert R. Hampton,
Emory University

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Abstract

It is clear that there is no shortage of uncertainty about metacognition in nonhuman animals. The four papers in this special issue have raised questions about the evidence for metacognition from many perspectives, ranging from concerns about whether existing control procedures unambiguously specify sources of stimulus control, to models that appear to generate metacognitive patterns of performance without explicitly metacognitive components, to critiques of the entire effort on the grounds that there is no mechanism specified for metacognition. The area cannot be criticized for a shortage of critical thinking. Many of the critiques put forward direct attention to aspects of this problem that need more attention, but some of these concerns are more central than others.

Keywords: awareness, cognitive control, confidence, consciousness, declarative,explicit, introspection, memory, memory monitoring, metacognition, metamemory, perception, self-awareness, self-control, self-regulation, uncertainty

Hampton, R. R. (2009). Focusing the uncertainty about nonhuman metacogntion. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 4, 56-57. Retrieved from http://comparative-cognition-and-behavior-reviews.org/ doi:10.3819/ccbr.2009.40006