Metacognition
Does our ability to judge our own performance decline as we age?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
While older adults can perform visual tasks just as accurately as younger adults, their ability to judge the accuracy of their own decisions decreases over time.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Visual perception metacognition across adulthood; staircase held accuracy ~70%
- N
- N=60 · Ages 18–84; memory metacognition subset n=38; trail-making subset n=44
- Population
- Adults spanning young to older age
- Outcome
- Age effects on visual vs memory metacognitive efficiency
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Key findings
The researchers found that visual metacognitive efficiency significantly declined with age, meaning older participants were less aware of when they made visual errors. In contrast, memory-based metacognitive efficiency did not show a statistically significant relationship with age. Additionally, the age-related decline in visual self-awareness remained significant even when controlling for executive functioning scores.
Methodology
The study evaluated how aging affects self-awareness of decision accuracy in 60 participants aged 18 to 84. Participants performed a visual perception task where they identified which of several brief intervals contained a target Gabor patch, with a staircase adjustment keeping visual accuracy near 70%. A subset of 38 participants also completed a word recognition memory task, and 44 completed a trail-making test to evaluate executive functioning.
Limitations
Because this was a cross-sectional study, it cannot prove that aging directly causes a decline in metacognitive efficiency over time within the same individuals. Additionally, some older participants had to state their confidence ratings verbally rather than using a keyboard, which introduces a potential confound in how responses were collected. Finally, the study failed to find a statistically significant difference between age's correlation with visual awareness versus memory awareness, meaning it does not prove the decline is entirely domain-specific.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
There is disagreement regarding whether aging causes a decline in trial-by-trial metacognitive efficiency; one study found a significant age-related decline in visual self-awareness, while another study using performance-matched adaptive tasks found that local metacognitive efficiency remained completely intact across age groups.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Memory-based metacognitive efficiency appears to remain relatively stable and does not show a statistically significant decline across the adult lifespan.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Age-related declines in visual metacognitive self-awareness can remain statistically significant even when controlling for executive functioning scores.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Studies disagree on whether visual metacognitive efficiency declines with age: one study found a significant age-related decline in judging visual decisions, while another found that trial-by-trial local metacognitive efficiency remains intact across age groups.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
There is disagreement regarding whether aging causes a decline in trial-by-trial metacognitive efficiency; one study found a significant age-related decline in visual self-awareness, while another study using performance-matched adaptive tasks found that local metacognitive efficiency remained completely intact across age groups.
Studies disagree on whether visual metacognitive efficiency declines with age: one study found a significant age-related decline in judging visual decisions, while another found that trial-by-trial local metacognitive efficiency remains intact across age groups.
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