Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026

Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
Published on: September 27, 2020
Helping students reflect: lessons from cognitive psychology
Gary Poole1, Lydia Jones, Michael Whitfield
1Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Health Education Scholarship, University of British Columbia, Jim Pattison Pavilion North, VGH, 910 West 10th Avenue, Suite 3300, Vancouver, BC, Canada, gary.poole@ubc.ca.
Abstract:
The challenges of teaching students to reflect on experience and, thus, learn from it, are better understood with the application of constructs from cognitive psychology. The present paper focuses on two such constructs-self-schemas and scripts-to help educators better understand both the threats and opportunities associated with effective reflection. Emotion is presented as an important accompaniment to reflection. Suggestions are presented, using the notions of self-schemas and scripts, to help students manage the emotion associated with reflection and to enhance the value of that reflection.
Related Concept Videos
Metacognition
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
Beck's Cognitive Therapy
Arbitrary Inference
Arbitrary inference involves making conclusions without sufficient...
