Do university students know how they perform?
Keywords:
metacognition, self- evaluation, cognitive performance, university students, self- imageAbstract
The aim of the research is to study the capacity for self-evaluation of University students
undergoing tests involving mathematics, linguistic and formal reasoning. Subjects were
asked to estimate the number of correct answers and subsequently to compare their
performance with that of their peers. We divided the subjects into three groups on the basis
of performance: poor, middle and top performers. The results demonstrate that all the
subjects in all tests showed good awareness of their level of actual performance. Analyzing
comparative assessments, the results reported in literature by Kruger and Dunning were
confirmed: poor performers tend to significantly overestimate their own performance whilst
top performers tend to underestimate it. This can be interpreted as a demonstration that
the accuracy of comparative self-evaluations depends on a number of variables: cognitive
and metacognitive factors and aspects associated with self-representation. Our conclusion
is that cognitive and metacognitive processes work as “submerged” in highly subjective
representations, allowing dynamics related to safeguarding the image one has of oneself to
play a role.
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References
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strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (3), 260-
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metacognition: Links between motivation and executive functioning. In G. Schraw
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Nebraska Press.
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generalization: How contexts facilitate regulatory processes and efficacy beliefs. In F.
E. Weinert & W. Schneider (Eds.), Memory performance and competencies: Issues in
growth and development. (pp. 283-300). Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Brown, A. L. (1987). Metacognition, executive control, self-regulation, and other more
mysterious mechanism. In F. Weinert & R. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, motivation,
and understanding (pp. 65-116). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
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Children’s thinking: What develops (pp. 3- 35). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
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of it: How perceptions of difficulty drive miscalibration in relative comparisons.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 60-77.
Cadamuro, A. (2004). Stili cognitivi e stili di apprendimento: da quello che pensi a come lo
pensi. (Cognitive styles and learning styles: from what you think to how you think).
Roma: Carrocci Editore.
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Rudolf Amthauer Manuale. (Intelligence Structure Test). Firenze: Organizzazioni
Speciali.
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Cornoldi, C. (1995). Metacognizione e apprendimento. (Metacognition and learning).
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metacognition). Trento: Erickson.
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their own incompetence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3, 83-87.
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personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256–273.
Ehrlinger, J., Johnson, K., Banner, M., Dunning, D., & Kruger, J. (2008). “Why the
unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight among the
incompetent”. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 105, 98–121.
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nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Flavell, J. H. (1981). Monitoring social cognitive enterprises: something else that may
develop in the area of social cognition. In J. H. Flavell & L. Ross (Eds). Social
cognitive development (pp. 272-287). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frieze, I. H, Bar Tal, D. (1980). Developmental trends in cue utilization for attributional
judgments. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 1 (2), 83-94.
Hammill, D. D., Pearson, N. A., & Wiederholt, J. L. (1998). TINV. Test di intelligenza non
verbale (Non verbal intelligence scale). Trento: Erickson.
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. Oxford, England: John Wiley.
Hultsch, D. F., Herzog, C., Dixon, R. A., & Davidson, H. (1988). Memory self-knowledge and
self-efficacy in the aged. In M. L. Howe & C. J. Brainered (Eds.), Cognitive
development in adulthood. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Izaute, M., & Chambres, P. (2002). Metacognition: process, function and use. Dodrecht,
Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publisher.
Kitchener, K.S. (1983). Cognition, metacognition, and epistemic cognition. A three-level
model of cognitive processing. Human Development, 26 (4), 222-232.
Kuhn, D. (1999). A developmental model of critical thinking. Educational Researcher, 28
(2), 16-26.
Krueger, J., & Mueller, R. A., (2002). Unskilled, unaware or both? The contribution of
social-perceptual skills and statistical regression to self-enhancement biases. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 180-188.
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999) Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in
recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessment. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1121-1134.
Mason, L.(2001). Verità e Certezze. (Truth and certainties). Roma: Carocci.
Mazzoni, G. (2000). L'apprendimento: comportamento, processi cognitivi, neurobiologia.
(Learning: behaviour, cognitive processes, neurobiology). Roma: Carocci Editore.
Mazzoni, G., & Nelson, T. O. (1998). Metacognition and cognitive neuropsychology.
Monitoring and control processes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Moè A., & De Beni R. (1995). Metodo di studio: dalle strategie ai programmi metacognitivi.
In O. Albanese, P. A. Doudin & D. Martin (Eds), Metacognizione ed educazione (pp.121-140). (Study methods: from strategies to metacognitive programmes. In
Metacognition and education). Milano: Franco Angeli.
Nisbett, R. E., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social
Judgment. Prentice Hall, NJ: Englewood Cliffs.
Pearson N. & Wiederholt L. (1998). Test di intelligenza non verbale TINV. ( Non verbal
intelligence scale). Firenze: Organizzazioni Speciali.
Petter, G. (1992). Dall’infanzia alla preadolescenza. (From infancy to pre-adolescence).
Firenze: Giunti.
Piaget, J. (1974). Reussir et comprendre. (Succeeding and understanding). Paris : PUF.
Piaget J. (1975). L’équilibration des structures cognitives: problème central du
development. Etudes d’épistémologie génétique, vol. 33. (Cognitive structure
equilibration: a central problem of development). Paris: Presses Universitaires de
France.
Richard, J. F. (1990). Les activitès mentales: comprendre, raisonner, trouver des solutions.
Paris : Colin.
Riviére, A. (1999). Teoria della mente e metarappresentazione. In F. Braga Illa (Ed.),
Processi di rappresentazione, soggetto e società. (Theory of mind and
metarepresentation. Processes of representation, subject and society). Urbino:
Edizioni Quattro Venti.
Schwartz, B., & Perfect, T.J (2002). Applied metacognition. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Vygotskij, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press.
Weiner, B., Frieze, I.H., Kukla, A., Reed, L., Rest, S., & Rosenbaum, R.M. (1978).
Perceiving the causes of success and failure. Morristown NJ: General Learning Press.
Weiner, B. (1986). Attribution, emotion, and action. In: R. M. Sorrentino, & E. T. Higgins
(Eds), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behaviour. (pp.
281-312). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.
strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (3), 260-
267.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy. The exercise of control. New York: Freman. Borkowski, J.
G. (1996). Metacognition: Theory or chapter heading? Learning and Individual
Differences. 8 (4), 391-402.
Borkowski, J. G. (1985). Sign of intelligence: Strategy generalization and metacognition. In
S. R. Yussen (Ed.), The growth of reflection in children, New York: Academic Press.
Borkowski, J. G., Chan, L. K. S. & Muthukrishna, N. (2000). A process-oriented model of
metacognition: Links between motivation and executive functioning. In G. Schraw
(Ed.), Issues in the measurement of metacognition (pp. 1-41). Lincoln, NB: Univ. of
Nebraska Press.
Borkowski, J. G., & Muthukrishna, N. (1995). Learning environments and skill
generalization: How contexts facilitate regulatory processes and efficacy beliefs. In F.
E. Weinert & W. Schneider (Eds.), Memory performance and competencies: Issues in
growth and development. (pp. 283-300). Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Brown, A. L. (1987). Metacognition, executive control, self-regulation, and other more
mysterious mechanism. In F. Weinert & R. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, motivation,
and understanding (pp. 65-116). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
Brown, A. L., & DeLoache, J. (1978). Skills, plans, and self-regulation. In R. S. Siegler (Ed.),
Children’s thinking: What develops (pp. 3- 35). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Burson, K. A., Larrick, R. P., & Klayman, J. (2006). Skilled or unskilled, but still unaware
of it: How perceptions of difficulty drive miscalibration in relative comparisons.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 60-77.
Cadamuro, A. (2004). Stili cognitivi e stili di apprendimento: da quello che pensi a come lo
pensi. (Cognitive styles and learning styles: from what you think to how you think).
Roma: Carrocci Editore.
Calonghi, L., Polacek, K., & Ronco, A., (1974), Test di Struttura dell'Intelligenza TSI di
Rudolf Amthauer Manuale. (Intelligence Structure Test). Firenze: Organizzazioni
Speciali.
Campione, J.C., & Brown, A. L. (1978). Toward a theory of intelligence: Contributions from
research with retarded children. Intelligence. 2(3), 279-304.
Cornoldi, C. (1995). Metacognizione e apprendimento. (Metacognition and learning).
Bologna: Il Mulino.
De Beni, R., & Moè, A. (2000). Motivazione e apprendimento. (Motivation and learning).
Bologna: Il Mulino.
De Beni, R., & Pazzaglia, F. (1991). Lettura e metacognizione. (Reading and
metacognition). Trento: Erickson.
Dunning, D., Johnson K., Ehrlinger, J. & Kruger, J. (2003). Why people fail to recognize
their own incompetence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3, 83-87.
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development.
Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press/Taylor and Francis.
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social–cognitive approach to motivation and
personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256–273.
Ehrlinger, J., Johnson, K., Banner, M., Dunning, D., & Kruger, J. (2008). “Why the
unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight among the
incompetent”. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 105, 98–121.
Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In B. Resnichl (Ed.), The
nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Flavell, J. H. (1981). Monitoring social cognitive enterprises: something else that may
develop in the area of social cognition. In J. H. Flavell & L. Ross (Eds). Social
cognitive development (pp. 272-287). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frieze, I. H, Bar Tal, D. (1980). Developmental trends in cue utilization for attributional
judgments. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 1 (2), 83-94.
Hammill, D. D., Pearson, N. A., & Wiederholt, J. L. (1998). TINV. Test di intelligenza non
verbale (Non verbal intelligence scale). Trento: Erickson.
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. Oxford, England: John Wiley.
Hultsch, D. F., Herzog, C., Dixon, R. A., & Davidson, H. (1988). Memory self-knowledge and
self-efficacy in the aged. In M. L. Howe & C. J. Brainered (Eds.), Cognitive
development in adulthood. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Izaute, M., & Chambres, P. (2002). Metacognition: process, function and use. Dodrecht,
Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publisher.
Kitchener, K.S. (1983). Cognition, metacognition, and epistemic cognition. A three-level
model of cognitive processing. Human Development, 26 (4), 222-232.
Kuhn, D. (1999). A developmental model of critical thinking. Educational Researcher, 28
(2), 16-26.
Krueger, J., & Mueller, R. A., (2002). Unskilled, unaware or both? The contribution of
social-perceptual skills and statistical regression to self-enhancement biases. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 180-188.
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999) Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in
recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessment. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1121-1134.
Mason, L.(2001). Verità e Certezze. (Truth and certainties). Roma: Carocci.
Mazzoni, G. (2000). L'apprendimento: comportamento, processi cognitivi, neurobiologia.
(Learning: behaviour, cognitive processes, neurobiology). Roma: Carocci Editore.
Mazzoni, G., & Nelson, T. O. (1998). Metacognition and cognitive neuropsychology.
Monitoring and control processes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Moè A., & De Beni R. (1995). Metodo di studio: dalle strategie ai programmi metacognitivi.
In O. Albanese, P. A. Doudin & D. Martin (Eds), Metacognizione ed educazione (pp.121-140). (Study methods: from strategies to metacognitive programmes. In
Metacognition and education). Milano: Franco Angeli.
Nisbett, R. E., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social
Judgment. Prentice Hall, NJ: Englewood Cliffs.
Pearson N. & Wiederholt L. (1998). Test di intelligenza non verbale TINV. ( Non verbal
intelligence scale). Firenze: Organizzazioni Speciali.
Petter, G. (1992). Dall’infanzia alla preadolescenza. (From infancy to pre-adolescence).
Firenze: Giunti.
Piaget, J. (1974). Reussir et comprendre. (Succeeding and understanding). Paris : PUF.
Piaget J. (1975). L’équilibration des structures cognitives: problème central du
development. Etudes d’épistémologie génétique, vol. 33. (Cognitive structure
equilibration: a central problem of development). Paris: Presses Universitaires de
France.
Richard, J. F. (1990). Les activitès mentales: comprendre, raisonner, trouver des solutions.
Paris : Colin.
Riviére, A. (1999). Teoria della mente e metarappresentazione. In F. Braga Illa (Ed.),
Processi di rappresentazione, soggetto e società. (Theory of mind and
metarepresentation. Processes of representation, subject and society). Urbino:
Edizioni Quattro Venti.
Schwartz, B., & Perfect, T.J (2002). Applied metacognition. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Vygotskij, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press.
Weiner, B., Frieze, I.H., Kukla, A., Reed, L., Rest, S., & Rosenbaum, R.M. (1978).
Perceiving the causes of success and failure. Morristown NJ: General Learning Press.
Weiner, B. (1986). Attribution, emotion, and action. In: R. M. Sorrentino, & E. T. Higgins
(Eds), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behaviour. (pp.
281-312). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.
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Published
2017-08-25
How to Cite
Battistelli, P., Cadamuro, A., Farneti, A., & Versari, A. (2017). Do university students know how they perform?. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 2(1), 180–198. Retrieved from https://www.iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/265
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