Relação entre metacognição e linguagem: revisão da hipótese externalista ativa

Abstract

This is a review paper on the relationship between natural language (spoken and written) and metacognition, from the perspective of active externalism. We are especially interested in Andy Clark's developments on the phenomenon. There are at least two reviews considered important on the “metacognition” phenomenon, none of them recent - Proust (2013) and Beran et al, (2012). There are also several reviews of the “cognitive conception of language” (eg., CARRUTHERS, 2002). However, there are no reviews on the relationship between metacognition and natural language, in the paradigm of active externalism. The phenomenon of metacognition is model and theoretical-dependent. Its importance or relevance is described in many ways, for example, more or less associated with cumulative cultural learning, the emergence of symbolic communication, the manipulation of certain physical artifacts and materials, and various processes and mechanisms of social interaction. Unequivocally, metacognition and language seem to be irreducibly related. For Clark, natural language is a cognitive artifact, a cognitive technology, and a cognitive super niche, capable of generating other niches. Part of the generative capacity of language as a super niche is due to what the author calls the "mangrove effect", a property capable of providing a stable basis for thinking to "attach" itself to subsequent thoughts. According to this position, natural language is responsible for the appearance of “second order cognitive dynamics”, which are metacognitive processes, typically present in humans. We introduced the notion of metacognition, explored and reviewed variations of that notion, in several authors. Then we examine Clark's externalist position, as well as some important premises, and criticisms.