METACOGNITION AND ITS RELATION TO A PIAGETIAN TASK

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between children\u27s knowledge of the metacognitive strategies required for class inclusion and their level of performance on this task. Brown has by definition divided metacognition into six basic areas (Brown & Barclay, 1976) and the present investigator adapted these components to determine children\u27s knowledge about the regulation of cognition as it is involved in a class inclusion task. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) There is no significant relationship between level of performance of 5 year olds on a Class Inclusion Tast and High Awareness of self as classifier and Low Awareness of self as classifier. (2) There is no significant relationship between level of performance of 5 year olds on a Class Inclusion Task and High Awareness of self as Short Term Memorizer for the Class Inclusion Task and Low Awareness of self as Short Term Memorizer for the Class Inclusion Task. (3) There is no significant relationship between level of performance of 5 year olds on a Class Inclusion Task and High Level of Ability to Assess performance and Low Level of Ability to Assess performance. (4) There is no significant relationship between level of Awareness of self as classifier of 5 year olds on a Class Inclusion Task and High Level of Awareness of self as Short Term Memorizer and Low Level of Awareness of self as Short Term Memorizer. (5) There is no significant relationship between Level of Awareness of self as classifier of 5 year olds on a Class Inclusion Task and High Ability to Assess one\u27s own performance and Low Ability to Assess one\u27s performance. (6) There is no significant relationship between Level of Awareness of self as Short Term Memorizer of 5 year olds on a Class Inclusion Task and High Ability to Assess one\u27s own performance and Low Ability to Assess one\u27s own performance. A sample pool of 54 kindergarteners enrolled in the Ramapo Central School District were randomly selected from the population of 397 students based on four criteria: age, parental consent, verbal ability, and familiarity with task concepts used. Each hypothesis was tested on the basis of different subgroups of the sample in terms of Awareness levels and Ability to Assess their performance. Materials used in the study consisted of: a Class Inclusion Task, a Screening Device for Verbal Ability, a Metacognition Interview of the Routines for the Class Inclusion Task, a Metacognition Interview of Short Term Memory for the Class Inclusion Task, and a Self-Assessment Protocol for the Class Inclusion Task. Chi-square tests indicated that when a subject scored High Awareness of Routines, or High Awareness of Short Term Memory, or High Ability to Assess performance of a Class Inclusion Task, he was more likely to pass the Class Inclusion task. Furthermore, when a subject manifested High Awareness of Class Inclusion Routines or High Awareness of Short Term Memory, he was more likely to accurately assess his performance. Conclusions derived from this study were: (1) High Awareness to Class Inclusion Routines was necessary for successful performance on a Class Inclusion Task. (2) High Awareness to Short Term Memory skills and accurate Self Assessment facilitated successful performance of the Class Inclusion Task. The study confirmed the need to train Awareness as it relates to complex tasks, in general, and as it relates to a task of logical operations, in particular