The Development of a Multidomain Metacognition Experiment: a Pilot and Feasibility Study
PsyArXiv Preprints September 2, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/ (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Feasibility study |
|---|---|
| Population | Small participant groups |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based attentional monitoring task |
| Measures | Judgments of learning, Perceptual Awareness Scale, retrospective confidence ratings, post-decision wagering |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Confidence Domain generality Domain specificity Executive function Memory Metacognition Perception Psychology, other Cognitive psychology |
| Key points | Iteratively revised tasks reduced ceiling effects and increased performance variation while remaining feasible, providing task structures for a later full-scale experiment on whether metacognitive monitoring has a common latent component across cognitive domains. Memory iterations indicated participants could report uncertainty while answering correctly under a 2AFC format, supporting a 3AFC structure, while intermediate memory and executive-function versions showed increased difficulty could produce substantial frustration that had to be balanced against task burden. |
Abstract
Evidence for a common metacognitive ability across cognitive domains remains mixed. Previous cross-domain studies have often used similar first- and second-order response formats across tasks, making it difficult to separate common metacognitive variance from common method variance. In addition, a reanalysis of the tasks used by Mazancieux et al. showed comparatively high performance and little systematic difficulty modulation, limiting their usefulness for individual-differences research. The present feasibility study therefore developed revised experimental tasks for a later multidomain investigation of metacognitive monitoring. Episodic memory, visual perception, and executive function were retained in modified form, while the culturally specific semantic-memory task was replaced by a mindfulness-based attentional monitoring task. First-order response formats and metacognitive judgments were varied across tasks, using judgments of learning, the Perceptual Awareness Scale, retrospective confidence ratings, and post-decision wagering. Across small participant groups, the tasks were iteratively modified according to performance, participant feedback, and procedural problems. The final versions reduced the strongest ceiling effects and produced greater variation in performance while remaining feasible to complete. The memory iterations additionally showed that participants could report uncertainty while still answering correctly under a 2AFC format, supporting its replacement by a 3AFC structure. At the same time, intermediate memory and executive-function versions showed that increased difficulty could also produce substantial frustration and therefore had to be balanced against task burden. The resulting task structures provide the basis for a subsequent full-scale experiment examining whether metacognitive monitoring contains a common latent component across cognitive domains.