Abstract
Two experiments tested the hypothesis that overconfidence in performance judgments is due to test- and person-driven errors. In Experiment 1, test difficulty accounted for the vast majority of variation in overconfidence when individuals judged items of varying difficulty within a homogeneous test. In Experiment 2, the severity of overconfidence did not differ between three unrelated tests once test difficulty was controlled. Both experiments supported the view that over-confidence is due largely to test difficulty. Some degree of overconfidence also occurred because individuals adopted a normatively high success criterion for judging their own test performance.
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—Accepted by previous editor, Margaret Jean Intons-Peterson
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Schraw, G., Roedel, T.D. Test difficulty and judgment bias. Mem Cogn 22, 63–69 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202762
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202762