Definition
Plain language
Actively planning, checking, and adjusting your reasoning as you go.
As stated in the literature
One of Flavell's two metacognition dimensions: active control of cognitive processes through planning, monitoring, and evaluation; scored in MaR by plan-execution alignment with a multiplicative shortcut penalty.
Why it matters: Without active monitoring, reasoners drift off-plan or take shortcuts that quietly invalidate their answers.
For example, a student sketches a plan, notices halfway through that their algebra isn't matching the plan, and backs up to fix it.
Heard on the show
“" The second is metacognitive regulation: actively managing your own reasoning.”Episode 079 — An Old Idea From Cognitive Psychology Reshapes How We Reward Reasoning Models