Final answer:
The term for “thinking about thinking” is metacognition, which plays a key role in engaging higher-order thinking skills and self-awareness, leading to improved learning and critical reflection.
Step-by-step explanation:
“Thinking about thinking”, or awareness of one's own mental processes is called metacognition. This term encompasses a self-awareness that allows individuals to engage in higher-order thinking skills beyond typical cognition, which involves first-order thinking such as everyday problem-solving and decision-making. Metacognition involves critically assessing one's own thought process, challenging gut reactions, and reconsidering cognitive tendencies and biases.
To improve metacognition and critical reflection, activities such as checking, planning, selecting, self-interrogating, and making judgments about one’s knowledge are essential. These practices prepare individuals for rational, abstract thought processes that are crucial, for example, in the field of philosophy. Metacognitive skills enable us to regulate and monitor our cognitive activities consciously, contributing to more effective learning and problem-solving.
By understanding and practicing metacognition, we are effectively engaging in a meta-level of cognition that allows for the critique and improvement of our own thought processes, which is a fundamental aspect of learning and intellectual development.