Though artificial intelligence scientists frequently use words such as "belief" and "desire" when describing the computational capacities of their programs and computers, they have completely ignored the philosophical and psychological theories of belief and desire. Hence, their explanations of computational capacities which use these terms are frequently little better than folk-psychological explanations. Conversely, though philosophers and psychologists attempt to couch their theories of belief and desire in computational terms, they have consistently misunderstood the notions of computation and computational semantics. Hence, their theories of such attitudes are frequently inadequate. A computational theory of propositional attitudes (belief and desire) is presented here. It is argued that the theory of propositional attitudes put forth by philosophers and psychologists entails that propositional attitudes are a kind of abstract data type. This refined computational view of propositional attitudes bridges the gap between artificial intelligence, philosophy and psychology. Lastly, it is argued that this theory of propositional attitudes has consequences for meta-processing and consciousness in computers.

The armchair social scientist will notice that individuals frequently refer to consumption that occurred in childhood. Books, toys, movies, cartoon characters, and even favorite foods are just a few examples of these childhood consumption referents. In her now well-cited and classic study on 15 different consumer-brand relationships, Fournier (1998) identified individual's relationships with childhood consumption referents and called them childhood friendships. Nevertheless, there is a relative dearth of consumer research exploring effects of marketing that begin in childhood and extend into adulthood, what functions childhood friendships might serve, and what consequences there might be to these relationships. In my dissertation, I aim to contribute to the consumer psychology literature with two separate essays pertinent to childhood friendships. In the first essay, I explore the meaning of these relationships and the functions they serve in consumer identity throughout the life cycle. In the second essay, I examine effects of early childhood brand relationships on biased judgments and decision-making.

This applied research in education was undertaken within the context of a school mentoring programme, where my role as a mentor researcher is directed at promoting change in teacher pedagogy consistent with junior-high school educational reforms in Israel. The purpose of this study has been twofold: 1) to confront conflicting issues that exist between the need for change in teacher pedagogy and the resistance felt by many of them toward ‘never ending’ new reforms and: 2). to investigate the impact of the mentoring model (MM) on learning processes that foster teacher empowerment. Assessment of empowerment, as both a process and a product, drew on the teachers' metacognitive development, growing sense of satisfaction and self-efficacy as mediators of their pupils' thinking/learning skills. This study presents a unique approach to teacher empowerment through its theoretical and methodological perspectives. Socio-cultural perspectives serve as an over-arching framework through which various theoretical perspectives for learning and development may be integrated. Action research and discourse analysis were found to be compatible with the researcher’s philosophical approach, whereby educators engage in a collaborative learning process that promotes shared visions and goals. Promoting the characteristics of a learning organisation within the school shed light on ways that can provide teachers with a nurturing environment within the complex dynamics of the school. The detailed account and interpretation of the multi-level reciprocal interactions that occur between teachers, mentor and the school organisation presented in this study is especially significant for understanding multidimensional developmental processes. It illustrates the evolution of inventive methodological tools (such as skills rubrics and discourse analysis techniques), which assume to provide new perspectives for fostering the teachers’ trust in their own judgement when mediating higher order thinking skills. These findings are of particular relevance as contemporary research indicates that teachers often experience difficulties in practicing metacognitive pedagogy.

Il existe aujourd’hui un large consensus sur le fait que le système cognitif est capabled’avoir des activités sur lui-même, on parle de métacognition. Si plusieurs travaux se sontintéressés aux mécanismes qui sous-tendent cette métacognition, à notre connaissance,aucun ne l’a fait dans une perspective « sensorimotrice et intégrative » du fonctionne-ment cognitif comme celle que nous proposons. Ainsi, la thèse que nous défendons dansce travail est la suivante : l’information métacognitive, notamment la fluence, possèdestrictement le même statut que l’information cognitive (i.e., sensorielle et motrice). Dansun premier chapitre, nous proposons un modèle de la cognition respectant ce principe.Ensuite, dans les deux chapitres suivants, nous mettons à l’épreuve notre hypothèse parle biais d’expériences et de simulations effectuées à l’aide du modèle mathématique quenous avons élaboré. Ces travaux ont porté plus précisément sur des phénomènes liés à troispossibilités originales prédites par notre hypothèse : la possibilité de méta-métacognition,la possibilité d’intégration entre information sensorielle et information métacognitive, etla possibilité d’abstraction métacognitive. / There is today a broad consensus that the cognitive system is capable of having acti-vities on itself, we are talking about metacognition. Although several studies have focusedon the mechanisms underlying this metacognition, to our knowledge, none has done so ina "sensorimotor and integrative" perspective of cognitive functioning such as the one wepropose. Thus, the thesis we defend in this work is the following : metacognitive infor-mation, especially fluency, has strictly the same status as any cognitive information (i.e.,sensory and motor). In a first chapter, we propose a model of cognition respecting thisprinciple. Then, in the next two chapters, we test our hypothesis through experimentsand simulations using the mathematical model we have developed. This work focusedmore specifically on phenomena related to three original possibilities predicted by ourhypothesis : the possibility of meta-metacognition, the possibility of integration betweensensory information and metacognitive information, and the possibility of metacognitiveabstraction.

Investigou-se como crianças de 3ª série do ensino público, destacadas por dificuldades na aquisição da leitura, relatam como percebem, organizam e avaliam sua atividade cognitiva em situações de leitura. Participaram 40 crianças distribuídas em dois grupos com baixo (G1) e alto (G2) desempenho, como referência para a comparação de resultados, em uma tarefa padronizada de leitura e escrita, aplicada em 80 crianças. O relato de conhecimento metacognitivo sobre leitura obteve-se pela aplicação individual de um roteiro de entrevista. Este foi analisado a partir da freqüência de respostas apresentadas por grupo, nas diferentes categorias. Para analisar relações entre conhecimento metacognitivo e nível de desempenho aplicouse individualmente uma tarefa de leitura de livro. O tempo de leitura, tipos de erro e condutas de auto-regulação foram registradas em protocolo apropriado. Estes foram analisados em função do tempo de leitura e das taxas de erro e de auto-regulação. Nos resultados, evidencia-se no G2 maior domínio de conhecimentos metacognitivos relativo a dimensões mais complexas da leitura, com maior referência a conhecimentos sobre nível ortográfico, estrutura textual, estratégias e generalização destes para outras disciplinas; enquanto que no G1 destacam-se conhecimentos principalmente relacionados ao nível da palavra. Na tarefa de leitura o G2 apresentou desempenho significativamente superior, sobretudo em relação ao tempo e à taxa de erro. Comparando os resultados dos dois instrumentos, concluímos que há uma relação entre o plano do conhecimento declarável pela criança sobre seu funcionamento cognitivo e seu desempenho efetivo no plano da ação em tarefa de leitura / Childrens self reports concerning their cognitive activity during reading tasks were investigated in this study. Forty third graders, divided in two groups, according to their literacy achievement, low (G1) and high (G2), were selected among 80 students, by a standardized test that assessed their reading and writing abilities. Selfreports concerning metacognitive knowledge were obtained in individual interviews and analysed by frequency of categories in each group. A reading task was also assigned individually, in order to assess relationships between metacognitive knowledge and reading performance. Reading time, mistakes and self-correcting strategies were registered in a pre - devised protocol. Results evidenced better control of metacognitive knowledge among G2 third graders related to more complex dimensions involved in reading, such as spelling, textual structure, strategies and generalizing to other domains, while low achievers knowledge was more focused at word level. High achievers (G2) also performed significantly better in the reading task, specially reading time and mistakes rate. Results support conclusions about existing relationships between manifest metacognitive knowledge and performance in reading tasks

This doctoral thesis presents the findings of a mixed methods case study of Learning Skills, a new approach to Learning to Learn that was developed and implemented at a secondary school in the south of England between 2010 and 2014, and evaluated using data collected between 2009 and 2017. Learning to Learn is a field of educational theory and practice that aims to help young people get better at learning by focusing on the processes of learning (the how as well as the what), and by enabling them to take ownership over aspects of their own learning through activities such as goal setting, self-monitoring and structured reflection. The field has developed significantly throughout the last 40 years, with a number of approaches having been implemented on a large scale in the UK. Research into metacognition and self-regulation suggests that Learning to Learn programmes should help boost academic attainment. To date however, large-scale evaluations have found mixed results, with no clear impact on academic attainment. Using an intervention design used widely in medicine and other fields, Learning Skills reconceptualises Learning to Learn as a 'complex intervention' comprised of multiple areas of evidence-informed practice. The rationale for complex interventions is that the marginal gains emerging from any individual avenue of practice stack up and interact to yield a larger effect size overall. The Learning Skills programme, which started as a year seven taught course and developed into a whole-school approach to teaching and learning, focuses centrally on three key concepts: metacognition, self-regulation and oracy. This evaluation of Learning Skills incorporates eight strands of data collection and analysis over an eight-year period, using the previous year group at the same school as a control group. These include baseline measures; attitude to learning scores; psychometric questionnaires; a language of learning evaluation; reflective learning journals; student interviews; teacher interviews; and student attainment across all subjects in years nine and 11. The primary outcome analysis - student attainment across all subject areas at three and five years - found that Learning Skills cohort one achieved significantly higher grades than the control cohort, with accelerated gains among young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Secondary data analysis incorporating a range of qualitative and quantitative methods indicates a causal relationship between Learning Skills and academic attainment. As well as evaluating the impact of a new and promising approach to Learning to Learn, this study generates new knowledge about the implementation and evaluation of complex interventions in education.

The Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model (Wells & Matthew, 2015) states that psychological disorder results from an unhelpful thinking style called the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS). The CAS incorporates worry/rumination, threat monitoring and unhelpful thought control strategies and is controlled by erroneous metacognitive beliefs. The contribution of the S-REF model to the understating of rumination (paper one) and suicidal ideation (paper two) is evaluated within this thesis. Rumination is one component of the CAS. According to the S-REF model, its execution is guided by metacognitive beliefs. Paper one describes a systematic review and meta-analysis that was undertaken to establish the nature and strength of the relationships between rumination and metacognitive beliefs. Robust relationships, of moderate strength, were observed between rumination and beliefs about its benefits and between rumination and beliefs about its negative consequences. Future research should aim to delineate causality in the observed relationships and consider confounder variables. In paper two it is argued that the S-REF conceptualisation represents a promising new approach to the understanding of suicidal ideation. The importance of considering CAS processes was supported by the study findings. Worry and punishment-related thought control strategies, alongside rumination, predicted suicidal ideation. Distraction, social control and reappraisal strategies negatively predicted suicidal ideation. Some evidence that CAS processes were controlled by erroneous metacognitive beliefs was also obtained. However, this was not conclusive and should be considered again in a larger sample. Paper three describes the development of papers one and two in more detail, highlighting and justifying the important decisions made. Further reflections on methodology are also provided to demonstrate the learning achieved.

Paper 1 provides a systematic review on the association between children over-rating their competence, termed Positive Illusory Bias (PIB), and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The evidence towards this construct was examined, in addition to its environmental specificity and modifiability. Findings confirmed an association between PIB and ADHD, with most studies evidencing higher discrepancies between self and adult ratings of competence in children with ADHD compared to controls. The nature and magnitude of this association was less clear however, with some of these studies showing absolute ratings of children to be similar to controls, and a PIB only evidenced when adults were used as objective evaluators, not actual performance. Thus the review was unable to discount the idea that the PIB may, in part, be a function of the system around children with ADHD under-estimating their abilities. Clinical implications are discussed. Paper 2 presents an investigation into the efficacy and feasibility of a metacognitive therapy technique, Attention Training (ATT) in children with ADHD. A novel intervention in this population, the study employed a single case series design, followed by an uncontrolled trial, both with a 6-week follow up. A total of 16 children aged 7-11 under the care of a children and adolescent mental health service received 5 sessions of the ATT. Findings revealed that children rated their attention as significantly improved, despite no statistical improvement found on parent ratings. Significant improvements were also shown in working memory and other aspects of executive functioning. Adherence to home practice of the ATT was generally poor, but session attendance was good and the treatment was well-liked by parents. Clinical implications and directions for future research are indicated. Paper 3 is a critical reflection of the research process. Reflections on paper 1 and 2 are given, including limitations and clinical implications. The impact of the research process on my personal development and learning is also discussed.

Prospective memory is remembering to perform an action in the future, such as attending a meeting (a time-based task) or picking up milk at the gas station (an eventbased task), and is crucial to achieving goal-directed activities in everyday life. Children who fail to develop prospective memory abilities are likely to experience difficulties interacting with parents, teachers, and peers. To date, research on prospective memory development has been primarily descriptive or focused on underlying executive functioning. This dissertation investigated the developmental relationship between metacognitive representation and prospective memory in preschool and elementary school children and adults. Findings from Study 1 indicated that individual differences in representational ability independently predicted individual differences in 3-year-olds' performance on event-based tasks that are of low-interest. Qualitative changes are important to consider when modeling prospective memory develop ment, as with episodic memory. Study 2 presents findings based on a study using the CyberCruiser 2.0, an Xbox-style racing game designed to assess time-based prospective memory. This study confirmed that kindergarten children are capable of completing this time-based prospective memory task but revealed that performance improved with age. Between kindergarten and 2nd grade, children become better aware of their own mental processes and abilities, allowing them to adjust their strategies and perform more comparable to adults. As a result, in this study, younger children tended to overestimate their prospective memory abilities and were less likely to monitor passing time, causing them to fail more time-based task trials than older children and adults. / Similarly, participants who underestimated the costs of prospective memory failed more time-based tasks relative to those who more accurately assessed these costs. Although this latter relationship was limited to adults, it suggests that a poor metacognitive understanding of the costs of prospective memory may result in missed opportunities to carry out a delayed intention if individuals fail to allocate attentional resources appropriately. These findings have theoretical implications for models of prospective memory and development. Practical implications for educating children are also discussed. / by Kayla B. Causey. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis is concerned with the psychology of magic and illusion. In particular it is focused on three illusions, which can be conceptualized as types of invisibility: (1) Illusions of omission - failures to see, (2) Illusions of commission - seeing things that are not really present, and (3) metacognitive illusions - people's false beliefs about their own cognitive and perceptual systems. The work presented in this thesis is set out to explore these illusions through behavioural visual experiments inspired by sleight-of-hand magic tricks. Across three distinct paradigms using stimuli ranging in complexity from static line drawings, to recorded videos, to live events, I demonstrate that manipulations of observers' expectations and attentional set can result in perceptions of visual events that are variously accurate representations, illusions of omission, or illusions of commission. I also demonstrate that these illusions are often associated with failures of visual metacognition, in that they are generally considered to be surprising and counterintuitive. In addition to these empirical elements of the project, I also consider historical and contemporary connections between experimental psychology and magic tricks. I show that, in some instances, magicians' misdirection techniques anticipated developments by experimental psychology by hundreds of years, and that the idea of investigating the mechanisms of magic tricks and illusions played a key role in the development of experimental psychology as a scientific discipline. Through this combination of historical analyses novel experiments, I show that the integration of magic and experimental psychology has a great potential to drive future research in human cognition and perception.