Go if you know: Preschool children ' s movements reflect their metacognitive monitoring

We assessed metacognitive monitoring in 3to 5-year-old preschool children using a non-verbal behavioral paradigm of confidence. Children responded to a variety of computerized tasks, during which rewards could be collected after each trial at a location spatially distant from the computer. Critically, auditory cues indicating performance were delayed by five seconds after each trial. A metacognitive response indicating confidence in their performance would lead children to move towards the reward location before receiving trial feedback. Results indicated that early movements reflected confidence and non-movements reflected uncertainty. Movements differed as a function of task performance (correct vs. incorrect responding) and objective trial difficulty (easier vs. harder trials) across most cognitive tasks. For some tasks, performance and meta cognitive movements also varied as a function of age. These data, from a non-verbal measure of confidence, match other reports of emerging metacognition in children in this age range.