MindFrame
Knowledge Base

Metacognition Glossary

Every term you encounter in MindFrame — defined clearly, backed by research, and connected to how it appears in your training.

Cognitive Processes

The mental machinery that metacognition monitors and controls.

Cognitive Bias

A systematic pattern of deviation from rational judgment in your thinking.

Kahneman 2011; Tversky & Kahneman 1974

Overconfidence Bias

Systematically believing you know more or perform better than you actually do.

Barber & Odean 2001; Moore & Healy 2008

Dunning-Kruger Effect

Low-competence individuals overestimate their ability; experts often underestimate theirs.

Kruger & Dunning 1999; Pennycook et al. 2017

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for and favour information that confirms your existing beliefs.

Nickerson 1998; Wason 1960

Working Memory

The system that temporarily holds and manipulates information for active use.

Cowan 2001; Alloway & Alloway 2010; Basak et al. 2008 (g≈0.28)

Cognitive Load

The total amount of mental effort being used in working memory at any given moment.

Sweller 1988; Paas & Sweller 2014

Analytical Reasoning

The systematic process of evaluating evidence and drawing valid conclusions.

Stanovich 2016; Kahneman 2011

Belief Updating

Revising your beliefs in proportion to new evidence — the core of rational thinking.

Tetlock & Gardner 2015; Nyhan & Reifler 2010

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that enable fast decisions — useful but sometimes systematically wrong.

Tversky & Kahneman 1974; Gigerenzen 2007

Cognitive Flexibility

The ability to switch between different mental strategies or perspectives as conditions change.

Diamond 2013; Ionescu 2012

Mental Model

An internal representation of how something works, used to predict and reason about the world.

Johnson-Laird 1983; Munger 1994

Bias Blind Spot

The tendency to recognise biases in others while failing to see them in yourself.

Pronin, Lin & Ross 2002; Scopelliti et al. 2015

Put the theory into practice

Understanding these concepts is step one. Training with them daily — with precise feedback — is how the change happens.

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