Abstract

In the educational literature, the terms metacognition and self-regulated learning are often used interchangeably (Veenman, 2007), although their conceptual roots and theoretical perspectives are quite distinct (Dinsmore, Alexander, & Loughin, 2008; Fox & Riconscente, 2008). Metacognition theory originated from developmental psychology with Piaget (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958) and Flavell (1970) as progenitors. Metacognition initially focused on the “reflective abstraction of new or existent cognitive structures” (Dinsmore et al., 2008, p. 393), that is, on the developing person’s thinking about cognition. Later, Brown and DeLoache (1978) affixed self-regulatory mechanisms to the conceptualization of metacognition.