Metamemory, memory performance, and causal attributions in gifted and average children.
Fifth and seventh graders who had been teacher-selected as high- or average-achieving were tested on the Kognitiver Fähigkeits Test, a standardized test of intellectual abilities for German children. Children who met preestablished criteria as gifted or average were then tested on measures of metacognitive knowledge, attributional beliefs, and performance on a sort recall task. Results indicated ability-related differences in metamemory and sort recall performances. Responses to the attributional questionnaires also varied systematically according to ability: gifted children were more likely to attribute their academic successes to high ability than were average children, who showed a stronger belief in the importance of effort in determining task outcomes. Causal modeling analyses illustrated the strength of metacognitive knowledge as a performance predictor on the memory task, especially for average children. Results are discussed in terms of the value of metacognitive theory in understanding individual performance differences.
Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Munich, West Germany.
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Kurtz
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Weinert
D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002672:Child, Gifted / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D002666:Psychology, Child