ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Psychology in Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1653320
Four-to-six-year-olds' developing metacognition and its association with learning outcomes
Provisionally accepted
- University of Idaho, Moscow, United States
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Metacognition is the ability to monitor and calibrate one’s cognitive processes. Prior studies have 12 linked metacognition with learning outcomes; however, very limited research has examined young 13 children’s metacognition. This study aims to investigate young children’s developing metacognition 14 and its relation to their learning outcomes. A total of 74 typically developing children (Mage = 63.69 15 months) from a state in the Northwestern U.S. participated in this study. This cross-sectional study 16 took place between 2023-2024. Metacognition was measured by a validated train track task, where 17 children attempted to assemble two shapes using wooden train track pieces based on plans provided 18 by the research assistants (RAs). This task was video recorded and coded independently by two 19 trained RAs, using an established coding scheme. Children’s learning outcomes were measured by 20 the Letter-Word Identification (language) and Applied Problems (mathematics) subsets in the 21 Woodcock and Johnson IV-Achievement assessment. Results indicated that metacognition improved 22 with age during early childhood, showing a larger increase between ages 5 and 6 compared to ages 4 23 and 5. Children’s metacognition scores did not differ significantly between boys and girls. 24 Regression analysis showed that metacognition scores were significantly related to learning 25 outcomes measured as the sum scores of language and mathematics assessments, controlling for 26 children’s age. Our study suggests that children who can effectively monitor and adjust their 27 cognitive processes tend to have better academic outcomes, even at a very young age. Our finding 28 indicates the importance of supporting children’s metacognitive skills, alongside traditional academic 29 domains, to enhance overall learning outcomes.
Keywords: young children, metacognition, Metacognitive monitoring and control, learning outcomes, preschool, Kindergarten
Received: 09 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Green and Hodge. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shiyi Chen, University of Idaho, Moscow, United States
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