Metacognition is the area of psychology concerned with studying our knowledge of our own thoughts about something in particular and, in this case, in the way we learn. Literally meaning ‘beyond’ cognition, it is cognition about cognition, or thinking about thinking. It is composed of both the knowledge of cognitive processes (the way we think about something) as well as control and monitoring. Thanks to metacognition we know and regulate our own cognitive processes during learning.
Metacognition is made possible by a high level of voluntary attention that allows awareness of how learning works and understanding why our performance is effective or not. According to John Hurley Flavel, epistemologist, psychologist and cognitive theorist, metacognition is the way in which we understand our own cognitive functions as well as those of others allowing us to anticipate their intentions and ideas.
Applied to skiing learning, it refers to the reflection on how we learn through self-observation of our own learning process. It involves, among other things, the planning of what is to be learned, the processing of relevant data, and our self-regulation of these processes. It is an important aspect that influences our learning process, especially knowing how to interpret our initial frustrations and emotions that appear and divert our concentration from the objective.
The stages of knowledge
If we recognize our own learning process, or how we learn, it would be easier to accept it with patience. In learning how we learn, the following stages must be acknowledged first:
- The first one is ignorance in which we do not know how much we do not know. In this phase we are unconscious of our own incompetence. Admitting that we are ignorant in some domain is already having a knowledge that allows us to be open to new learning.
- This phase is followed by the stage of information, i.e., we know something, therefore, it allows us to know how much we do not know: we are aware of our own incompetence and thus we begin the learning itself.
- Knowledge is the third stage. Here we have a certain knowledge or ability that allows us to know how much we know. The period we must go through to reach this stage is that of confusion. At this stage we are aware of our own competence.
- The fourth stage is wisdom; in which we find the fullness of knowledge. We do not know how much or how we know, which does not mean that we know everything but to know well what we know. At this stage we are unconscious of our own competence.
Transferring knowledge to long-term memory
The learning process of a motor activity starts with declarative knowledge and then transforms into procedural knowledge. Declarative knowledge refers to the theoretical information of concepts and ideas: it is the knowledge of ‘what‘ to do. Procedural knowledge is the practical knowledge about motor execution: it is the ‘how‘ to do. There is a further knowledge; explanatory knowledge which refers to knowing how to explain usefulness: it is knowing ‘why‘. In order to consolidate our learning, it is a requirement that these three types of knowledge be transferred from short-term memory to our long-term memory.
The transfer to long-term memory can be accelerated, delayed, or blocked.
It is accelerated when:
- We can associate new information with what we already know or experienced in the past, i.e., when it connects with an image stored in our brain.
- When learning occurs under eustress conditions, i.e., in a friendly context without major distractions and in pleasant situations.
- When time slots are provided so that our brain does not receive new information.
It is delayed when:
- We receive too much information on a frequent basis.
- There is negative stress or distraction.
It is blocked when:
- There is too much distress due to a threatening context.
We conclude that, in order to learn in a relevant way through the transfer to our long-term memory, we must respect the following aspects:
- Feel in an environment of eustress by taking pleasure in learning.
- Associate what is new with what we already know.
- Allow ourselves frequent intervals.
- Practice conscientiously.
