Knowing Ourselves Together: The Cultural Origins of Metacognition

Cecilia Heyes; Dan Bang; Nicholas Shea; Christopher D Frith; Stephen M Fleming

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2020.02.007

Knowing Ourselves Together: The Cultural Origins of Metacognition

Trends Cogn Sci. 2020 May;24(5):349-362. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.02.007. Epub 2020 Mar 24.

Authors

Cecilia Heyes¹, Dan Bang², Nicholas Shea³, Christopher D Frith⁴, Stephen M Fleming⁵

Affiliations

¹ All Souls College, University of Oxford, High Street, Oxford OX1 4AL, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
³ Institute of Philosophy, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, UK; Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
⁴ Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Institute of Philosophy, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, UK.
⁵ Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].

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.

Keywords: confidence; cultural evolution; cultural learning; metacognition.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Physiological
Animals
Humans
Learning
Metacognition*

Grants and funding

WT_/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom