The Development of Computerised Success-Failure Manipulation Paradigms for the Experimental Study of Metacognition in Neurological Patients

Research into metacognitive abilities of clinical populations has indicated pervasive defi cits in terms of monitoring of cognitive performance. Nevertheless, there are important methodological issues regarding the validity of these fi ndings. In the current paper, we describe the development of novel experimental procedures to mitigate some of these limitations. Specifi cally, we report the creation of computerised tasks based on success-failure manipulation (SFM), which allow experimental control over the performance of participants. We discuss the theoretical implications of this new procedure and also results obtained so far with the tasks. Finally, we present future research directions stemming from the use of the tasks.