Table 1.

Recent research in sport that has highlighted the role of metacognition.

Topic	Authors	Method	Emerging literature on metacognition
Meta-imagery	Moran (2002)	Conceptual	Posed the question of whether meta-imagery abilities would distinguish elite from non-elite performers.
Attentional strategies	Nietfield (2003)	Survey	Indicated that the runners relied mostly on monitoring and information management strategy (i.e., strategy thoughts during running) regulatory cognitions.
Meta-imagery	Weinberg et al. (2003)	Survey	Athletes were surveyed, not just on their use of imagery, but on their perceived effectiveness of imagery for distinct functions.
Meta-imagery	MacIntyre and Moran (2007a)	Qualitative	Relative to non-athletes (Denis and Carfantan, 1985), the participants demonstrated an intricate understanding of imagery processes including the use of imagery of realistic behaviors as opposed to ideal performance imagery.
Meta-imagery	MacIntyre and Moran (2007b)	Qualitative	Evidence from elite performers suggested that they possessed sophisticated meta-imagery control skills – being able, for instance, to restructure negative imagery so that it facilitates future performance.
Psychological skills training	Foster and Weigand (2008)	Conceptual	Psychological skills in sport (e.g., imagery, goal setting) can be applied more efficiently, particularly in developmental contexts, by applying metacognitive models to understand the role of self-monitoring and self-regulation in the application of the above strategies.
Meta-imagery	MacIntyre and Moran (2010)	Conceptual	A model of meta-imagery was proposed with a specific emphasis on expertise effects.
Attention and choking behavior	DeCaro et al. (2011)	Experimental	Skill failure was linked to the extent to which skill execution depends on explicit attentional control. Increased metacognitive awareness may cause performers to evaluate their performance diverting attention away from skill execution.
Meta-imagery	Pearson et al. (2011)	Experimental	Findings support the role of meta-cognitive knowledge of imagery ability and relate it to our ability to judge individual episodes of imagery.
Attention and ironic processes	Toner et al. (2013)	Experimental	Over-compensatory behavior was more prevalent amongst low-skilled than high-skilled golfers and they concluded that future research explore metacognition.
Attentional strategies	Brick et al. (2014)	Conceptual	The authors in developing a tentative framework for attentional focus in endurance activity, highlighted the potential benefits of applying a metacognitive approach in future studies.