Soutenance de thèse : Giovanny LAU

Metacognition has expanded considerably in recent years, spanning domains such as memory, perception, and language. However, its integration into the study of working memory (WM) remains relatively underexplored. Traditionally, WM research has evolved in parallel to metacognitive research, often excluding subjective measures—perhaps due to skepticism about the reliability of introspective reports, or the assumption that WM contents are inherently accessible and thus unproblematic to monitor. Yet, recent empirical evidence on this assumption is mixed. This thesis investigates the extent to which WM is subject to metacognitive control and whether the classic model of the monitoring–control loop—originally developed for long-term memory—can be meaningfully extended to WM. Using a complex-span task combined with metacognitive judgments at different phases, three main questions were addressed: (1) whether individuals have metacognitive access to WM contents (Studies 1–2); (2) what cues or processes underlie the formation of these judgments (Studies 3–4); and (3) whether monitoring judgments influence WM performance (Studies 5–6).

The findings demonstrate that individuals can produce accurate metacognitive judgments about WM contents, and that these judgments seem to be shaped by inferential processes based on diagnostic cues—such as serial position and task structure—rather than relying solely on direct access to memory traces. Moreover, prospective judgments can be influenced by metacognitive knowledge. Crucially, retrospective confidence judgments enhanced subsequent recall without impairing secondary task performance, suggesting that metacognition can support adaptive control within WM.

These results challenge simplistic models that treat metacognitive judgments as passive readouts of memory strength. Instead, they support a layered, interactive view of WM in which monitoring and control operate dynamically through a feedback loop. Theoretical implications are discussed in relation to cue-based models of metacognition and current architectures of WM.

Keywords: Metacognition, Working memory, Meta-working memory, Metacognitive judgments, Inferential Processes, Complex-span Tasks, Serial position effects, Memory performance.