Metacognitive Control Processes and Memory Deficits in Poor Comprehenders

Abstract

This article presents theoretical reflections and empirical data on metacognitive aspects of memory and reading problems in children with reading-comprehension disabilities. A distinction is made between metacognitive awareness and metacognitive control processes. It is hypothesized that metacognitive awareness will bring about differences between good and poor comprehenders. Differences in control processes are more complex and must be carefully articulated. The ability to discriminate the relative difficulty of different sections of material to be read and/or studied is particularly important. This strategy is considered together with the “time allocation” strategy, in which the student discriminates between items requiring a greater or lesser expenditure of cognitive resources. Discrimination difficulty and differential allocation of cognitive resources are involved in cognitive tasks such as reading and memory. Experimental results suggest that, depending on the nature of a task, control processes can be employed differentially. Poor comprehenders present less adequate control processes while reading a passage, but not while memorizing isolated lists of items.

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