Function and Evolution of Cognitive Monitoring and Cognitive Control

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Metacognition is the ability to think about one's own thought processes, which is critical for sophisticated cognition. For example, understanding how well you know a new vocabulary word allows you to decide when to stop studying words as they are learned. Metacognition involves both monitoring one's own ongoing cognitive processes and exerting cognitive control over them. The proposed research is significant because it will identify the role of cognitive monitoring and control in complex nonhuman primate cognition. This comparative research will advance knowledge of the evolution of complex cognition and of what makes humans unique. The investigators will promote public education about cognitive science and primate cognition through visits to K-12 classrooms and developing an interactive kiosk at the local zoo that allows visitors to experience the same cognitive tests performed by the primates on exhibit. Throughout the research project, undergraduate and graduate students will receive training for careers in science. Evidence from psychophysical and memory tests indicates that nonhuman primates introspectively monitor some cognitive processes, for example showing selective avoidance of difficult tests. This research will determine the role of cognitive monitoring for cognitive control in primates by examining which cognitive systems are accessible to cognitive monitoring and which are not. Cognitive systems accessible to cognitive monitoring will be distinguished from those that are not by testing for dissociations between accuracy and confidence in tasks involving multiple memory systems contributing to accuracy, and by using psychophysical tests that dissociate motor and perceptual processes. Specific studies address these goals through consideration of 1) the extent to which primates regulate the amount of information they acquire prior to taking tests; 2) what information primates monitor when making metacognitive judgments; 3) the extent to which primates strategically exercise cognitive control only when necessary and adaptively allocate monitoring among competing tasks; and 4) the role of language-like mental representations in cognitive monitoring and control. These comparative studies will determine the extent to which there have been changes in cognitive monitoring and cognitive control through primate evolution.