The paper introduces a new method for measuring metacognitive abilities in large language models (LLMs) without relying on self-reports, instead testing how well models can use knowledge of their internal states. Using two experimental paradigms, the authors find that recent frontier LLMs can assess and use their own confidence when answering factual and reasoning questions, and can anticipate and appropriately employ the answers they would give. The study also shows that these abilities are limited in resolution, context-dependent, differ qualitatively from human metacognition, and vary across models with similar capabilities, suggesting post‑training processes influence metacognitive development.
By Christopher Ackerman
arXiv:2608. 15400v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Large Language Models (LLMs) are notorious for struggling with assessing their own uncertainty, detecting knowledge conflicts, or recognizing when problems exceed their expertise; such limitations inevitably undermine reliability and trust in LLMs.
By Charles Courchaine, Ricky J. Sethi, Hefei Qiu
arXiv:2603. 29693v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: A robust decision-making process must take into account uncertainty, especially when the choice involves inherent risks.
By Richard Servajean, Philippe Servajean
arXiv:2606. 32032v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Metacognition is a critical component of intelligence that describes the ability to monitor and regulate one's own cognitive processes.
By Gabrielle Kaili-May Liu, Avi Caciularu, Gal Yona, Idan Szpektor, Arman Cohan
The study trains ten open‑weight large language models (LLMs) to predict their own accuracy on factual multiple‑choice questions before answering. Results show that the models’ confidence signals split into two distinct patterns: early in training, confidence aligns with output consistency (how concentrated the answer distribution is), while later, it aligns with true accuracy but only on data similar to the training set. This indicates that calibration training may not universally teach LLMs to detect their own errors.
By Nicolas Yax, Stefano Palminteri, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer
arXiv:2603. 25112v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Standard evaluation of LLM confidence relies on calibration metrics (ECE, Brier score) that conflate how much a model knows (Type-1 accuracy) with how well its confidence signal tracks that knowledge (Type-2 metacognitive sensitivity).
By Jon-Paul Cacioli
arXiv:2510. 03259v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Recent research on reasoning models explores the meta-awareness of language models, including their ability to determine optimal thinking duration, recognize knowledge boundaries, and structure concept-level thinking.
By Yoonjeon Kim, Doohyuk Jang, Eunho Yang
arXiv:2606. 12441v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The four dominant learning theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism show significant conceptual limitations as generative artificial intelligence (AI) proliferates in educational settings.
By Shan Li, Juan Zheng
arXiv:2607. 01224v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Memory expertise is a learned skill: knowing what to encode, when to retrieve, and how to organize knowledge--a capacity known in cognitive science as metamemory.
By Shengguang Wu, Hao Zhu, Yuhui Zhang, Xiaohan Wang, Serena Yeung-Levy
The paper introduces MERITED, a framework that combines Instance-Based Learning Theory (IBLT) with Energy Based Models (EBMs) to enable metacognitive reasoning about computational effort. It allows an EBM to dynamically allocate resources based on uncertainty estimates, addressing limitations of large language models that cannot predict uncertainty before responding. The authors present a 191‑million‑parameter reasoning EBM and demonstrate how MERITED uses an IBL model for efficient, uncertainty‑driven compute allocation.
By Tailia Malloy, Prateek Kumar Rajput, Serge Lionel Nikiema, Cleotilde Gonzalez, Tegawend\'e F. Bissyand\'e
arXiv:2606. 15601v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We introduce SCAN -- a human-centric decision-making framework to facilitate learners for effective task allocation with Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and Metacognition.
By Fendi Tsim, Alina Gutoreva
The paper questions whether large language models (LLMs) truly introspect by critiquing recent studies that claim they can detect and report their internal states. It proposes two necessary conditions for genuine introspection: privileged access to internal representations and second‑order computation that distinguishes from first‑order task performance. Re‑examining two existing paradigms, the authors find that apparent introspective abilities can be explained by input‑based classifiers or generic anomaly detection, concluding that current evidence does not support metacognitive monitoring in LLMs.
By Shashwat Singh, Tal Linzen, Shauli Ravfogel