Monitoring and Integration

This chapter describes the problems caused by impairments in two metacognitive subfunctions, monitoring and integration, and suggests ways to improve them. Monitoring is the ability to identify and label the components of a mental state in terms of emotions, thoughts, motivations, and desires. Impairments of this function compromise both the individual’s ability to describe internal states and the ability to explain the reasons and motivations underlying behavior. Integration refers to the more general capacity of individuals to reflect upon different mental states and identify internal contradictions, conflicts, and patterns. This metacognitive function allows us to adaptively organize mental content in terms of significance and subjective priority and to maintain behavioral coherence. An integration disorder causes mental processes and behaviors to be contradictory and unstable.