ABSTRACT
Metacognition, at its most basic level, is cognition about cognition. For instance, metamemory involves judgments and beliefs about memory (Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2009). In an ideal world, metacognitive processes would provide a perfect reflection of the mind’s contents, the way a mirror does. But research has shown repeatedly that metacognition is, at best, a distorted mirror: Predictions of future knowledge and judgments of current knowledge are subject to bias and are frequently inaccurate. The current chapter seeks to answer why, with all of its inaccuracies, metamemory survives as one of the most critical mental processes for any individual in a social world.
