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Cited by 232Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentLanguage and cultural evolutionSocial Representations and Identity

Knowing Ourselves Together: The Cultural Origins of Metacognition

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Heyes, Cecilia, Bang, Dan, Shea, Nicholas, Frith, Christopher D., Fleming, Stephen M.·2020·Trends in Cognitive Sciences
DOI 10.1016/j.tics.2020.02.007PMC PMC7903141
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Abstract

Metacognition - the ability to represent, monitor and control ongoing cognitive processes - helps us perform many tasks, both when acting alone and when working with others. While metacognition is adaptive, and found in other animals, we should not assume that all human forms of metacognition are gene-based adaptations. Instead, some forms may have a social origin, including the discrimination, interpretation, and broadcasting of metacognitive representations. There is evidence that each of these abilities depends on cultural learning and therefore that cultural selection might shape human metacognition. The cultural origins hypothesis is a plausible and testable alternative that directs us towards a substantial new programme of research.

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  • Some background beliefs about how our minds work may be acquired via learning or be culturally inherited.

    “Some of these background beliefs about how our minds work may be acquired via learning or be culturally inherited-as when children are instructed that feelings of fluency might produce misleading boosts in confidence, and they would be wise to slow down and reconsider their answer (Heyes et al. 2020).”

    From Metacognition and Confidence: A Review and Synthesis (2024) · cites this paper as Heyes et al. 2020

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Authors
Heyes, C., Bang, D., Shea, N., Frith, C. D., & Fleming, S. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Heyes, Cecilia
  • Fleming, Stephen M.
ORCID
Venue
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-05
Volume
24
Issue
5
Pages
349-362
ISSN
1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.tics.2020.02.007
PMC
PMC7903141
OpenAlex
W3009231711
Cited by
232
References
14
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 6
FWCI
5.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • SAS-Space (University of London) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Institute of Philosophy
Funders
  • Horizon 2020
  • Wellcome Trust (213630/Z/18/Z, 206648/Z/17/Z, 203147/Z/16/Z)
  • Royal Society
  • European Research Council (681422)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
Keywords
metacognition, cultural learning, social cognition, cultural selection, cognitive evolution
MeSH terms
Metacognition, Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Humans, Learning

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