Intelligence and Metacognition

Intelligence and metacognition are a topic for debate in the academe. Many pieces of
research state that these two are the same yet there are also researches saying that they
have a different context. According to Schraw and Graham (1997), that the development of
metacognitive knowledge is related to experience whereas metacognitive skills (especially
planning and monitoring) are related to intelligence. As a result, children with high IQ are
comparable to normal children in terms of metacognitive knowledge but they are
advantageous in metacognitive skills. Other researchers who find that intelligence and
metacognition are related constructs are those who believe that metacognition is a
subcomponent of intelligence. In the works of Binet and Simon (1916), Naglieri and Das
(1997), Sternberg (2003, 2005), and Cornoldi (2010), metacognition is regarded as a
subcomponent of intelligence (Sarac et al., 2014).
What is Intelligence?
Throughout the years, there have been many definitions of intelligence. Intelligence
has been defined as higher-level abilities (e.g. abstract reasoning, mental representation,
problem-solving, and decision making), the ability to learn, emotional knowledge, creativity,
and adaptation to meet the demands of the environment effectively.
Here are some of the definitions of intelligence by known psychologists (Ruhl I Simply
Psychology, 2020):
1 Robert Sternberg defined intelligence as “the abilities necessary for adaptation to,
as well as shaping and selection of, any environmental context (1997, p.1)
2 Charles Spearman defined general intelligence or g factor referring to a general
mental ability that underlies multiple specific skills, including verbal, spatial,
numerical, and mechanical.
3 L.L. Thurstone challenged the concept of a g-factor. He identified several primary
mental abilities that comprise intelligence, as opposed to one general factor. The
seven primary mental abilities are verbal comprehension, verbal fluency, number
facility, spatial visualization, perceptual speed, memory, and inductive reasoning
(Thurstone, as cited in Sternberg, 2003)
4 Howard Gardner built off the idea that there are multiple forms of intelligence
namely: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, body-kinesthetic,
interpersonal, and intrapersonal, and he added naturalist intelligence. He also
proposed that there is no single intelligence, but rather distinct, independent
multiple intelligences, each representing unique skills and talents relevant to a
certain category.
5 Solovey and Mayer (1990) defined intelligence as the ability to monitor one’s own
and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label
them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior
– emotional intelligence.
The definitions above simply prove that intelligence has many meanings and mostly
these are based on the theories they proposed. Let us consider one theory of intelligence by
Howard Gardner.
Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Figure 14
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
 Note: The figure shows the 8 types of intelligences identified by Gardener, namely: logical-mathematical,
interpersonal, intra-personal, linguistic, spatial, naturalist, musical, and bodily kinesthetic.
Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences proposes that people are not born
with all of the intelligence they will ever have. This theory challenged the traditional notion that
there is one single type of intelligence that only focuses on cognitive abilities. To broaden this
notion, Garner introduced eight different types of intelligence consisting of
Logical/Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Naturalist,
Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. Linguistic and logical-mathematical modalities are most
typed valued in school and society. He also suggests that there may other “candidate”
intelligences-such as spiritual, existential intelligence, and moral intelligence – but does not
believe these meet his original inclusion criteria (Gardner, 2011 in Marenus, 2020). The
descriptions of each type are listed below:
1 Linguistic Intelligence. This deals with sensitivity to the spoken and written
language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to
accomplish certain goals. People like William Shakespeare, Oprah Winfrey, and
others have abilities in this type.
2 Logical-mathematical. This refers to the capacity to analyze problems logically,
carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically.
Personalities who are exceptional on this type are Albert Einstein and Bill Gates.
3 Spatial Intelligence. This features the potential to recognize and manipulate the
patterns and wide space as well as the patterns of more confined areas, such as
those of importance to sculptors, surgeons, chess players, graphic artists, or
architects.
4 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence. This is the ability to use one’s whole body or
parts of the body to solve problems or to fashion products. People with this
intelligence are like Michael Jordan, Manny Pacquiao, and others.
5 Musical Intelligence. This refers to the skill in the performance, composition, and
appreciation of musical patterns like Beethoven and Ed Sheeran.
6 Interpersonal Intelligence. This is the capacity to understand the intentions,
motivations, and desires of other people and consequently to work effectively with
others like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa.
 7 Intrapersonal Intelligence. This is the capacity to understand oneself, to have an
effective working model of oneself-including one’s desires, fears, and capacities –
and to use such information effectively in regulating one’s own life.
8 Naturalistic Intelligence. This involves expertise in the recognition and
classification of the numerous species – the flora and fauna – of his or her
environment.

What is Metacognition?
Metacognition is put simply as thinking about one’s thinking. It refers to the processes
used to plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and performance. It is the awareness
of the scope and limitations of the current knowledge and skills (Michanbaum 1985 in
American Institutes for Research 2010, p. 1). Hence, good students must not only read and
study but must also know the techniques, processes, and ways they employ while studying.
When students know their styles it would be easier for them to understand, learn, and use
their higher-order thinking skills.
Metacognition is not only limited to the thinking process of the individual. It also
includes keeping one’s emotions and motivations while learning in check (Papleontiou-Louca,
2003, p.9). Some people learn better when they like the subject, some when they are
challenged by the topic, and others if they have a reward system each time they finish a task.
The emotional state and the motivation of a person then should also be in the preferred ideal
state for that person to facilitate further his/her learning.
The above definition shows that metacognition has two aspects: 1) self – appraisal and
2) self – management of cognition (Paris and Winnograd 1990 in Papaleontiou-Louca, 2003,
p.10). Self-appraisal is your personal reflection of your knowledge and capabilities while self-
management is the mental processes you employ using what you have in planning and
adapting to successfully learn or accomplish a certain task (Paris and Winnograd 1990 in
Papaleontiou-Louca, 2003, p.10).
The following are the skills that might help you with exercising metacognition. These
may sound familiar to you as you are also applying them in your learning (Waterloo Students
Success Office n.d., 2):
1 Knowing your limits. Knowing the limits of your memory for a particular task and
creating a means of external support. This means that you must evaluate what you
know and what you do not know and you must also look at the scope and
limitations of your resources.
2 Self-Monitoring. Self-monitoring your learning strategy, such as concept mapping,
and then adapting the strategy if it isn’t effective.
3 Modify. Noticing whether you comprehend something you just read and then
modifying your approach if you did not comprehend it. It begins with the recognition
that your strategy is not appropriate with the task and/or that you are not
comprehending the learning experience successfully. An example of this is reading
and re-reading a page for five-minute intervals instead of finishing the material in
one sitting without comprehending.
4 Skimming. Choosing to skim subheadings of unimportant information to get to the
information you need. This is basically browsing over the material and keeping an
eye on keywords, phrases, or sentences.
5 Rehearsing. Repeatedly practicing a skill to gain proficiency. This is not just
repeatedly talking, writing, and or doing what you’ve learned but also trying to make
a personal interpretation or summary of the learning experience.
6 Self-Test. As the name implies, this is trying to test the comprehension of your
learning experience or skills you have acquired during learning.
Other tips that you can use in studying are the following (QUT Library n.d., 4-11):
1 Outlining of the things you want to learn, the things you are reading or doing, and/or
the things you remember;
2 Breaking down the task in smaller and more manageable details;
3 Integrating variations in your schedule and learning experience. Change the
reading material every hour and do not put similar topics together. Also, include
physical activities in your planning.
4 You may also try to incubate your ideas. First, write your draft without doing much
editing. Let the ideas flow. Then leave your draft at least overnight or around 24
hours – some do not look at it for a week- and do something else. After a given
period, go back to your draft or prototype and you might find a fresh perspective
about it.
5 Revising, summarizing, and taking down notes then rereading them might help you
minimize cramming at the last minute especially when you have a weakness in
memorizing facts and data.
6 You should also engage in what you have learned. On a reading material, for
example, highlights keywords and phrases, write your opinions about the matter in
a separate notebook, or create a diagram or concept map.