ABSTRACT
As discussed at length earlier in this volume, the term ``metacognition'' can be used in a variety of ways. In this chapter we use metacognition to refer to a person's general capacity to think about thinking. This capacity is thought to re¯ect a general aptitude that involves a wide range of semiindependent faculties which allow the individual to perform discrete tasks such as forming representations of his or her own mental states and the mental states of others, and to form, question and revise ideas of what is believed, felt, dreamt of, feared, feigned or pretended in any of a number of rapidly evolving contexts. Metacognition refers both to implicit and explicit knowledge. It allows the individual to form and then accept or reject ideas about him or herself in the moment and also to sustain more enduring ideas about the kind of person he or she is across different situations. Metacognitive capacities consequently allow people to place disappointments and triumphs in a given perspective, to see growth from pain, opportunity in disappointment and to construct with others consensual meaning about daily activities.
