Confidence and Accuracy as a Function of Experience in Judgment-Making in the Absence of Systematic Feedback

This study investigated the variables of confidence and accuracy as a function of experience in the absence of systematic feedback. It was hypothesized that confidence was an increasing function of experience in the absence of systematic feedback. 94 undergraduates in psychology and biology responded to 5 questionnaires composed of 10 items each comparing geometric measures of simple designs. Ss also rated confidence for each response. The administrations of these questionnaires were separated in time by 2 or 3 days. Ss were given no feedback regarding their performance. Results supported the hypothesis: confidence increased with experience, although accuracy did not, in the absence of feedback. There was no relationship between accuracy and confidence considered across Ss.