Metacognitive Regulation of Problem-Solving in Children: A Comparison of Older Preschoolers and First-Graders

In recent years, research on metacognition in childhood has attracted increasing interest; however, due to children’s limited reflective abilities, such studies remain few. This study aims to identify features of metacognition during problem-solving in first-graders compared to older preschoolers.

Participants included 138 children (50.7 % boys), of whom 63.8 % were older preschoolers (Mage=65.28 months) and 36.2 % were first-graders (Mage=90.98 months), attending public kindergartens and schools in Moscow and Kazan. Metacognition was assessed using a procedure, in which children answered questions after solving a block pattern assembly task from a model. The evaluation targeted metacognitive knowledge (awareness of strategy and factors affecting performance) and metacognitive regulation (evaluation of success and difficulty). First-graders demonstrated betterdeveloped metacognitive regulation than preschoolers. Regarding metacognitive knowledge, first-graders did not differ from preschoolers overall. However, evidence suggests differences in metacognitive knowledge about strategy: at a trend level, first-graders were more likely to identify their strategy as a factor influencing successful task completion, and this strategy was more often articulated in terms of methods of action. The findings suggest that metacognitive regulation develops earlier than metacognitive knowledge, and that the transition to school – where methods of action become the object of targeted instruction – is a key factor in its development.

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