Definitions

Cognition is the mental processes involved in judging, knowing, learning, perceiving, recognizing, remembering, thinking, and understanding that lead to the awareness of the world around us. Metacognition is often simply defined as thinking about thinking. Metacognition consists of both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experiences or regulation. Metacognitive knowledge refers to acquired knowledge about cognitive processes, knowledge that can be used to control cognitive processes. Metacognitive knowledge is divided into three categories: knowledge of person variables, task variables and strategy variables.

Difference
Cognition makes it possible for us to think, remember and learn. These are the skills/abilities that allow us to process the huge influx of information we receive each and every day at work, at school and in life. If someones cognitive skills aren't up to speed, no matter what kind of information he may try to graspor how many times he may try to grasp itthe process can feel sluggish and slow. This is why brain training and tutoring are so completely different. Tutoring reteaches information you didn't quite grasp the first time around. This is fine if the reason the information didn't "stick" was because the information was presented poorly. If the reason you didn't grasp the information the first time around is because of a processing weakness in your brain, you don't need to be re-taught the information. Metacognition enables us to be successful learners, and has been associated with intelligence. Metacognition refers to higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. Activities such as planning how to approach a given learning task, monitoring comprehension, and evaluating progress toward the completion of a task are metacognitive in nature.

Relationship
Metacognition enables students to benefit from instruction and influences the use and maintenance of cognitive strategies. While there are several approaches to metacognitive instruction, the most effective involve providing the learner with both knowledge of cognitive processes and strategies (to be used as metacognitive knowledge), and experience or practice in using both cognitive and metacognitive strategies and evaluating the outcomes of their efforts (develops metacognitive regulation). Simply providing knowledge without experience or vice versa does not seem to be sufficient for the development of metacognitive control. Metacognition also refers to ones ability to know and regulate cognitive processes conceptualized metacognition as knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomena". Simply stated, metacognition is thinking about your thinking. Metacognition has been described as the ability to calibrate or monitor ones performance and chart learning plans based on learning and performance estimates. Good metacognition extends beyond the academic periphery and may be responsible for effective leadership, procuring promotions in the workplace, and achieving similar salient goals in life.

References
1. http://www.learningrx.com/cognitive-definition-faq.htm 2. Borkowski, J., Carr, M., & Pressely, M. (1987). "Spontaneous" strategy use: Perspectives from metacognitive theory. Intelligence, 11, 61-75. 3. Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906-911.

4. Flavell, J. H. (1987). Speculations about the nature and development of metacognition. In F. E. Weinert & R. H. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, Motivation and Understanding (pp. 21-29). Hillside, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 5. Carr, M., Kurtz, B. E., Schneider, W., Turner, L. A., & Borkowski, J. G. (1989). Strategy acquisition and transfer among German and American children: Environmental influences on metacognitive development. Developmental Psychology,25, 765-771.