The role of self‐rated ability in the accuracy of confidence judgements in eyewitness memory and general knowledge

It is argued that confidence stems in part from self‐rated ability in a domain of knowledge and that in eyewitness memory such perceptions are erroneous. Two experiments tested these hypotheses. In both experiments participants rated their relative ability in the domains of eyewitness memory and general knowledge and subsequently took tests of each, giving confidence ratings for each item attempted. In both studies, self‐rated ability predicted performance for general knowledge, but not eyewitness memory. Across participants confidence ratings were significant predictors of accuracy for general knowledge, but not for eyewitness memory. In Experiment 1 self‐rated ability was predictive of confidence ratings for both domains, although this effect was weaker in Experiment 2. The argument that the accuracy of confidence judgements in eyewitness memory is undermined by a lack of insight into relative expertise is therefore supported. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.