Does anyone know whether someone prior to Flavell used the term "metacognition," or "metamemory" for that matter?

-- Michael J. McGuire (mimcguir@nmu.edu), October 05, 2001

Answers

The _MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences_ says that "although its historical roots are deep (e.g., James, 1890), the study of metacognition first achieved widespread prominencein the 1970s through the work of Flavell (1979) and others on developmental changes in children's cognition about memory ('metamemory'), understanding ('metacomprehension'), amd communication ('metacommunication')" (p. 533). A search of the "Classics in the History of Psychology" website (which includes James' _Principles of Psychology_) did not turn up a single entry for "metacognition" or "metamemory".

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), October 05, 2001.