Perceptual metacognitive efficiency declines with age in healthy adults aged 18–84, even when task performance is controlled¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2019: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Perceptual metacognitive efficiency (meta-d′/d′) shows a significant negative correlation with age (r = −0.38, p = 0.005) despite staircase-controlled task performance. → Palmer E.C. 2014

Evidence¶

Palmer E.C. 2014¶

Palmer E.C., David A.S., Fleming S.M. (2014). Effects of age on metacognitive efficiency. Consciousness and Cognition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154452/

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

Cross-sectional correlational analysis of 53 adults aged 18–84 performing a staircase-controlled perceptual task. The article reports "a significant negative relationship between perceptual metacognitive efficiency (meta-d′/d′) and age (r = −0.38, p = 0.005; n = 53)". The correlation r = −0.38 corresponds to a medium effect.

"We found a significant negative relationship between perceptual metacognitive efficiency (meta-d′/d′) and age (r = −0.38, p = 0.005; n = 53; see Fig. 2b)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The age-related decline in perceptual metacognitive efficiency reflects both rising d′ and falling meta-d′ — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Executive function does not explain the age-related decline in perceptual metacognitive efficiency — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Memory metacognitive efficiency correlates with Wechsler Memory Scale scores, but perceptual metacognition does not — related
• Memory metacognitive efficiency shows a non-significant negative relationship with age — related
• Combined with adolescent data, the lifespan profile of perceptual metacognitive efficiency is an inverted-U — a broader claim this one bears on
• The adolescent improvement in metacognitive ability is independent of perceptual task performance, which was clamped and uncorrelated with age — related
• Metacognitive ability increases with age during adolescence and plateaus in adulthood when task performance is held constant — related
• Learning ability does not decline with age in healthy older adults — reports the opposite
• Metacognitive monitoring declines under high working memory load, suggesting functional dependence of MC on WM — related
• Perceptual and memory metacognitive efficiencies are positively correlated across individuals, though weakened after outlier removal — related