Metacognition of one's strategic planning in decision-making: the contribution of EEG correlates and individual differences.

Abstract

The metacognition of one's planning strategy constitutes a "second-level" of metacognition that goes beyond the knowledge and monitoring of one's cognition and refers to the ability to use awareness mechanisms to regulate execution of present or future actions effectively. This study investigated the relation between metacognition of one's planning strategy and the behavioral and electrophysiological (EEG) correlates that support strategic planning abilities during performance in a complex decision-making task. Moreover, a possible link between task execution, metacognition, and individual differences (i.e., personality profiles and decision-making styles) was explored. A modified version of the Tower of Hanoi task was proposed to a sample of healthy participants, while their behavioral and EEG neurofunctional correlates of strategic planning were collected throughout the task with decisional valence. After the task, a metacognitive scale, the 10-item Big Five Inventory, the General Decision-Making Style inventory, and the Maximization Scale were administered. Results showed that the metacognitive scale enables to differentiate between the specific dimensions and levels of metacognition that are related to strategic planning behavioral performance and decision. Higher EEG delta power over left frontal cortex (AF7) during task execution positively correlates with the metacognition of one's planning strategy for the whole sample. While increased beta activity over the left frontal cortex (AF7) during task execution, higher metacognitive beliefs of efficacy and less willingness to change their strategy a posteriori were correlated with specific personality profiles and decision-making styles. These findings allow researchers to delve deeper into the multiple facets of metacognition of one's planning strategy in decision-making.