The dissociations of confidence from accuracy in forced-choice recognition judgments

Maciej Hanczakowski , Ewa Butowska , C. Philip Beaman , Dylan M. Jones , Katarzyna Zawadzka

Abstract

Judgment of confidence in memory is likely to track memory accuracy if those factors shaping accuracy also shape confidence. In recognition memory, accuracy is determined by the relative level of evidence present for the target and that supporting the lures. As the discrepancy between targets and lures increases, so does the likelihood of correct responding. In contrast, this study shows that confidence can instead depend on the absolute evidence supporting the chosen target rather than the balance of evidence between targets and lures. In four experiments, using different types of forced-choice recognition tests, we demonstrate that generally manipulating the strength of evidence supporting targets affects confidence judgments but that varying the strength of evidence supporting lures creates robust confidence-accuracy dissociations, changing accuracy while not affecting confidence. Together, these data support an absolute account of confidence in forced-choice recognition and demonstrate that confidence-accuracy dissociations across recognition conditions are likely to be ubiquitous.