Just like sharing a delicious pizza, working together in groups can lead to better decision-making. In this study, scientists explore the idea that metacognition, our ability to monitor and evaluate our own cognitive processes, can improve collective judgment and enhance collaboration. To test this hypothesis, researchers used an agent-based model to simulate repeated group interactions and how they make judgments about resource extraction. The results show that when confidence and judgment accuracy are positively correlated, explicit metacognition allows groups to reach more accurate judgments compared to those who only exchange basic information. On the other hand, in environments where confidence and judgment accuracy are negatively correlated, explicit metacognition protects groups from making significant errors caused by relying solely on individual-level learning. This research sheds light on a new mechanism that explains why groups around the world communicate to improve the use of common property. If you’re curious about how human collaboration can be enhanced by metacognition, check out the full article linked below!

Abstract
Metacognition, the ability to monitor and evaluate our own cognitive processes, confers advantages to individuals and their own judgment. A more recent hypothesis, however, states that explicit metacognition may also enhance the collective judgment of groups, and may enhance human collaboration and coordination. Here, we investigate this social function hypothesis of metacognition with arguably one of the oldest collaboration problems humans face, common-pool resource use. Using an agent-based model that simulates repeated group interactions and the forming of collective judgments about resource extraction, we show that (1) in “kind” environments (where confidence and judgment accuracy correlate positively), explicit metacognition may allow groups to reach more accurate judgments compared to groups exchanging object-level information only; while (2) in “wicked” environments (where confidence and judgment accuracy correlate negatively), explicit metacognition may protect groups from the large judgment errors yielded by groups using metacognitive information for individual-level learning only (implicit metacognition). With explicit metacognition, this research highlights a novel mechanism which, among others, provides a testable explanation of the often-observed finding that groups all over the world communicate to enhance common property use.

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