metacognition

[ met-uh-kog-nish-uh n ]

/ ˌmɛt ə kɒgˈnɪʃ ən /

noun Psychology.

higher-order thinking that enables understanding, analysis, and control of one’s cognitive processes, especially when engaged in learning.

QUIZZES

Discover The Influence Of Portuguese On English Via This Quiz!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby metacognition

metachromophil, metachronous, metachrosis, metacinnabar, metacinnabarite, metacognition, metacomet, metacomputer, metacryst, metadata, metaethics

Origin of metacognition

First recorded in 1975–80; meta- + cognition

OTHER WORDS FROM metacognition

met·a·cog·ni·tive [met-uh-kog-ni-tiv] /ˌmɛt əˈkɒg nɪ tɪv/, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for metacognition

metacognition

/ (ˌmɛtəkɒɡˈnɪʃən) /

noun

psychol thinking about one's own mental processes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012