The Metacognition of John Flavell
John Flavell imagined a world where children could be taught to master the art of thinking about thinking. A world where teachers invite their students to step into the shoes of others by relating on a deeply personal level. Considered by some as the godfather of developmental psychology, Flavell explored the interrelationship between knowledge and regulation with his research. He was among the first to develop the modern concepts of metacognition and theory of mind. He was particularly interested in how cognitive development shaped, and was shaped by, how we learned, communicated, and reasoned.
Flavell conceptualized metacognition as having two key components: metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation. Metacognitive knowledge includes knowledge of learners, their behaviors, neurobiological and physiological understanding, and beliefs about learning. Metacognitive regulation involves using behaviors, and even organization of the environment, to ensure correct task performance. Flavell divided this ability into three areas: cognitive regulation, regulation of behavior, and allocation of effort. He identified that internal and external factors and emotions influenced self-regulation and cognitive development. He is also remembered for his contributions in bringing the work of Jean Piaget to American psychology and creating the field of metacognition.
Early life
John Flavell was born in 1928 in Rockland, Massachusetts. His father was a civil engineer who lost his job during the Great Depression. As a result, his family faced much economic hardship during his childhood. Flavell’s experience with hardship inspired his later interest in the study of psychology. He graduated from high school in 1945 and then joined the United States Army for two years, reaching the rank of private first class.
After the army, Flavell enrolled at Northeastern University in Boston, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1951. He then decided to pursue a graduate degree in clinical psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He completed his M.A. degree in 1952 and his Ph.D. degree in 1955. At Clark University, he was influenced by the psychoanalytic and developmental theories of Heinz Werner, which sparked his lifelong passion for studying the thinking of children. Flavell’s first academic position was as a clinical psychologist at Fort Lyon V.A. Hospital in Colorado from 1955 to 1956.
Accomplishments
John Flavell was a prolific and influential researcher in the field of developmental psychology, especially in the areas of metacognition and theory of mind. He published articles and books on these topics, as well as on other aspects of cognitive development, such as memory, communication, and social cognition. He also received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to science, such as the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the Society for Research in Child Development, the Distinguished Career Award from the American Psychological Association, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Research in Child Psychology.
Flavell was a respected teacher and mentor to many students and colleagues. He taught courses on developmental psychology at various universities, such as Stanford University, University of Minnesota, University of Rochester, and Clark University. He supervised over 50 doctoral dissertations and over 100 master’s dissertations in his career and was widely recognized for his excellence in teaching and mentoring by his peers, students, family, friends, and community, who admired his integrity, humility, and curiosity.
Work
John Flavell is widely recognized for his pioneering research identifying key aspects of cognitive development that have implications for education, social skills, and moral reasoning. He is credited for coining the term metacognition, which he defined as referring to personal knowledge and regulation of one’s own cognitive processes. He described metacognitive knowledge as one’s understanding of learning, both from a personal and broadly social context, including habits, personal behaviors, neurobiological, physiological understanding, and beliefs about learning. Metacognitive regulation refers to the behaviors an individual uses to regulate their own actions to ensure that they are doing them correctly on a task. Flavell initially broke down metacognitive regulation into three areas: metacognitive experience, metacognitive awareness of goals, and action strategies. These delineations have since been united under the umbrella term self-regulation.
Flavell’s research on metacognition began in the 1970s when he and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments to assess children’s knowledge about their own memory, a phenomenon he described as “metamemory”. Metamemory is the ability to sense what is meaningfully stored in memory, even if the whole memory or idea is unclear. Some forms of metamemory are feelings of knowing and judgments of learning. They found that children used their metamemory to understand and guide their self-regulation, which develops with age and experience, affecting their learning and memory performance. Flavell also investigated children’s knowledge about perception, attention, and comprehension, and how they monitor and control these processes. He developed the concept of “metacognitive monitoring,” which refers to the ongoing assessment of one’s cognitive state and progress.
Flavell’s research on theory of mind began in the 1980s, when he and his colleagues explored children’s understanding of the mental states of themselves and others. They found that children’s theory of mind develops through four stages: from a pre-theory of mind stage, where they do not attribute mental states to anyone, to a full theory of mind stage, where they can infer the beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions of others, and how they influence behavior. This allows a person to work towards personal goals and set them for themselves. Without these skills, one may be carried away by life events, and be unable to take control or responsibility for their personal behavior.
Another contribution to the field was his development of the “false belief task,” which has become a widely used measure of theory of mind in children.” False belief,” refers to the ability to recognize that someone else may have a different belief from reality. Flavell’s work showed that metacognitive skills and self-regulatory behaviors were necessary for healthy cognitive development and perhaps ultimately achieving a level of self-authorship that allows a person to work towards/set personal goals and contemplate their impact on the larger world.
Conclusion
Flavell’s research has contributed to the advancement of developmental psychology, as well as to the fields of education, social cognition, and moral development. His work has influenced other researchers and practitioners who have applied his concepts and methods to various domains and populations. His work has also contributed to the advancement of our understanding of neurodiversity. Ultimately, Flavell will be remembered as a tremendous cross-cultural researcher who understood the potential and challenges of describing human cognitive development. His insight captured the complexity of human understanding and its integrated nature with human behavior and experience.
References
Flavell, J. H. (1963). The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget.
Flavell, J. H. (1996). Piaget’s Legacy. Psychological Science, 7(4), 200–203. www.jstor.org/stable/40062945
Flavell, J. H., Green, F. L., Flavell, E. R., Harris, P. L., & Astington, J. W. (1995). Young children’s knowledge about thinking. Monographs of the society for research in child development, I-113.
Flavell, J. H. (1971). First Discussant’s Comments: What is memory development the development of? Human Development, 14(4), 272–278. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26761846
Flavell, J. H. (1966). Role-taking and communication skills in children. Young Children, 21(3), 164–177. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42720660
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American psychologist, 34(10), 906.
Flavell, J. H., & Wellman, H. M. (1975). Metamemory. Ed115405.tif.pdf.
Flavell, J. H., Shipstead, S. G., & Croft, K. (1978). Young children’s knowledge about visual perception: Hiding objects from others. Child Development, 49(4), 1208–1211. https://doi.org/10.2307/1128761
Flavell, J. H., Green, F. L., & Flavell, E. R. (1995). The development of children’s knowledge about attentional focus. Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 706–712. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.31.4.706
Flavell, J. H. (2005). Development of children’s knowledge about the mental world. In Growing Points in Developmental Science (pp. 102–122). Psychology Press. Development of children’s knowledge about the mental world (stanford.edu).
Flavell, J. H. (1978). Metacognitive development. Structural/process theories of complex human behavior, 213–245. Structural/Process Models of Complex Human Behavior — Google Books
Flavell, J. H. (1999). Cognitive development: Children’s knowledge about the mind. Annual review of psychology, 50(1), 21–45.
Flavell, J. H. (1986). The development of children’s knowledge about the appearance–reality distinction. American Psychologist, 41(4), 418. 418_1.tif (stanford.edu)
Flavell, J. H., Everett, B. A., Croft, K., & Flavell, E. R. (1981). Young children’s knowledge about visual perception: Further evidence for the Level 1–Level 2 distinction. Developmental psychology, 17(1), 99. 1981_flavelletal2.pdf (stanford.edu)
Moses, L. J., & Flavell, J. H. (1990). Inferring false beliefs from actions and reactions. Child development, 61(4), 929–945.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02832.x
