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Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
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Effects of age on metacognitive efficiency
Emma C Palmer1, Anthony S David1, Stephen M Fleming2
1Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, UK.
Consciousness and Cognition
|July 28, 2014
Summary
Metacognition, our awareness of thoughts and behaviors, declines with age, particularly in perception. This age-related decline in metacognitive efficiency may explain why beliefs increasingly mismatch reality in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
Background:
- Metacognition, the awareness of one's own cognition, is crucial for accurate self-assessment.
- Metacognitive efficiency links subjective confidence to objective performance.
- Understanding age-related changes in metacognition is vital due to potential negative consequences of poor self-awareness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify metacognitive efficiency across perception and memory domains in healthy adults.
- To investigate the relationship between aging and metacognitive efficiency.
- To explore the association between executive function and metacognition.
Main Methods:
- Assessed metacognition in perception and memory using measures that separate objective performance from metacognitive efficiency.
- Recruited healthy adults aged 18–84 years.
- Analyzed the relationship between executive function and metacognition.
Main Results:
- A significant decrease in perceptual metacognitive efficiency was observed with increasing age.
- A non-significant trend towards decreased memory metacognitive efficiency was found.
- No significant correlation between executive function and metacognition was identified in either domain.
- Annual decline in metacognitive efficiency, after controlling for executive function, was approximately 0.6%.
Conclusions:
- Perceptual metacognitive efficiency markedly declines with age.
- Decreased metacognitive efficiency may underlie the growing discrepancy between beliefs and behavior in aging.
- Metacognition is a critical cognitive function that is vulnerable to age-related decline.
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