Flavell's Metamemory Model

The most influential breakthrough in metamemory research that solidified the specialized field of metamemory was Flavell's (1979) American Psychologist article, called "Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry."
Theoretical considerations An understanding of what exactly is meant by metamemory can be gained by the model given by Nelson and Narens (1990). According to this model, metacognition entails two mental levels: the object level and a meta-level. There is a hierarchical flow of information, with meta level acquiring information from the object level and sending information to, and thereby altering the object level. These two processes correspond to “monitoring” and “controlling” (of cognitive
The upper panel in the model gives the various judgements that are involved while monitoring the learning and retrieval phases while the lower panel is concerned with the control processes that influences the nature of learning and
For example, a student studying for an upcoming test may monitor and evaluate the progress made while studying. Based on this assessment, the student makes some confidence judgements as in whether or not he or she will be able to remember the key concepts during the exam. Memory control refers to regulating any aspect of learning or retrieval. The student allocating more study time for learning more difficult materials is an instance of exercising control during learning. For control of retrieval, accusing a defendant at a trial is a prime example. The eyewitness must be highly confident of the memory of the crime in order to condemn the defendant. Figure II. The Nelson and Narens (1990) framework. (Adapted by J. Dunlosky, M. Serra, and J. M. C. Baker, in F. T. Durso, R. S. Nickerson, S. T. Dumais, S. Lewandowsky, & T. J. Perfect (eds.), Handbook of Applied Cognition, 2nd ed., Wiley, New York, 2007.)
Research