Are Overconfidence and the Accurate Calibration of Performance Mutually Incompatible?1

Abstract

The present study investigated whether calibration accuracy in metacognitive judgment on performance and the positively biased self-evaluation of competence are distinct and whether they play independent roles in learning. A sample of 432 sixth-graders reported their pre-test competence for solving math problems and the post-test calibration of performance, and these measures were compared with their actual math-test scores to compute overconfidence and calibration accuracy. Data analyses indicated (a) that a positive correlation existed between accurate calibration and overconfidence; (b) that high-achieving students calibrated performance accurately but overestimated their competence; and (c) that accurate calibration and overconfidence independently predicted positive learning behaviors, highlighting that both self-evaluation indices contribute to self-regulated learning in their own way.