ABSTRACT
Just as people can evaluate social and physical objects, so too can they evaluate their own thoughts and thought processes. The human capacity for selfreflection has long been recognized by philosophers and psychologists alike (James, 1890/1983). In recent decades, researchers have examined how people’s judgments about their own thoughts and feelings can impact the attitudes and behaviors that they ultimately exhibit. Critically, this process of thinking about one’s own thinking—namely, metacognition—involves a distinction between primary and secondary cognition. Primary cognition involves the immediate associations between attitude objects and traits, whereas secondary cognition refers to the reflective judgments that are made about primary cognitions.
