A meta-analysis and critical review of metacognitive accuracy in autism.
Autistic people often misjudge their own thinking, and this hidden gap can stall learning even when skills look fine.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Howard et al. (2023) pooled every paper they could find on how well autistic people judge their own thoughts. They called this skill metacognitive accuracy.
The team looked at different kinds of judgements, like confidence in memory and knowing when you do not know something. They checked if age or test type changed the results.
What they found
Across studies, autistic people often mis-rate their own mental states. The error shrinks a little from childhood to adulthood, but it does not vanish.
The type of judgement matters. Some tasks show bigger gaps than others. The authors say this blind spot is rarely checked during school or clinic visits.
How this fits with other research
DeRoma et al. (2004) and Bigham (2010) fit inside this meta-analysis. Both found reasoning and mentalising gaps in autistic children. L et al. show these single studies are part of a wider pattern.
Courchesne et al. (2019) seem to clash at first. They report that strength-based IQ tests raise scores for minimally verbal preschoolers. L et al. answer that higher scores do not guarantee accurate self-judgement. The papers talk about different things: ability versus insight.
Milgramm et al. (2021) add that teachers rate academic success by cognitive and social skills, not diagnosis. L et al. add a twist: if a child cannot gauge their own learning, they may still fall behind even when skills look solid.
Why it matters
You can add quick metacognitive checks to any session. After a task, ask, "How sure are you you got that right?" Then show the correct answer and chart hits and misses. Over a week you will see if the learner knows when they know. If not, teach them to stop and self-review before moving on. This tiny step may save hours of prompt dependency later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The ability to make accurate judgements about our own and others' mental states has been widely researched; however, it is unclear how these two abilities relate to each other. This is important given that there is evidence that autistic individuals can have difficulty with accurately judging others' mental states. Recent evidence suggests that some autistic individuals may also have difficulty accurately judging their own mental states. This may have an impact on various aspects of everyday life but particularly academic success, and therefore it is important that this skill is not overlooked when exploring areas of individual support. The aim of this article is to bring together the research examining autistic individual's ability of making accurate judgements about their own mental states and to establish whether this is an area that warrants further investigation. The results from this article show that autistic individuals may have difficulty making accurate judgements about their own mental states, although this depends on the type of judgement being made. It also highlighted that while autistic children may have difficulties in some areas, these may improve by adulthood. Overall, this article shows that more research is needed to fully understand where specific difficulties lie and how they may be overcome.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2023 · doi:10.1177/13623613221106004