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Metacognitive processes, such as monitoring one's knowledge and selecting appropriate strategies, may be important in skilled spelling. We hypothesized that skilled spellers have knowledge of which words they know how to spell and also that the accuracy with which people monitor their knowledge should be related to the spelling strategies they select. College students provided Feeling-of-Knowing ratings about the spellings of words and also spelled the same words and indicated whether they sounded out or remembered the spellings. Feeling-of-Knowing ratings were moderately correlated with Spelling Accuracy and were more strongly predictive of Spelling Accuracy when Feeling-of-Knowing ratings and spellings were done as part of the same task rather than as separate tasks. Analyses indicate that those who were better at monitoring their knowledge of spelling also chose more congruent spelling strategies. The results suggest that skilled spellers can monitor which words they know how to spell, but this ability to monitor is far from perfect and varies considerably. Further, the results suggest that ability to monitor spelling knowledge is related to strategy selection in spelling.

Metacognition in adults has received little attention, but it may have relevance in cognitive analyses of substance abuse and dependence. The metacognitive characteristics of treatment-seeking substance abusers were investigated, taking into account the metacognitive effects of substance abuse and metacognitive consequences of refraining from substance abuse. Metacognitive beliefs may be a significant barrier to the treatment of alcohol and drug misuse.

The problem-solving abilities and metacognitive functions of two types of creative individuals were examined using 19 English and 19 Mathematics and Computer Science majors from a private midwestern university. Analyses of scores on 9 dependent variables, while not providing evidence of statistically significant differences between the two groups, suggested a closer examination of the possible group distinctions.

Two key variables in social metacognition that include perceived intelligence and perceived levels of knowledge about a specific content domain are explored. Higher levels of perceived knowledge about the accurate use of birth control were associated with a higher probability of the occurrence of a pregnancy independent of actual knowledge about accurate use, perceived intelligence, self-esteem, and academic aspirations.

A study on memory complaints (as measured by selected subscales of the Metamemory in Adulthood Questionnaire) and its context was conducted on 179 older adults. A path analysis showed that memory complaints influence coping behavior through memory-related anxiety and perceived seriousness of complaints and that both memory complaints and coping influence well-being. Locus of control was found to be the most important antecedent variable in the model. Key Words: Metamemory, Dysphoria, Anxiety, Competence