Confidence in decision as an index of perceived accuracy of information processing

Abstract

The effects of variations in accuracy of information processing on confidence in decision were explored within a complex decision task. Ss were exposed to a series of decision problems under different time-pressure conditions and were required to make a choice and a confidence rating in the case of each problem. Problems varied in terms of response uncertainty and relative amount of information. The confidence measure was significantly affected by the response uncertainty and amount of information variables, but did not show a systematic relation to variations in accuracy of processing. The confidence measure did prove to be a stable index of response uncertainty even in those cases where the subjective probability distribution departed from the objective distribution. © 1970, Psychonomic Journals, Inc.. All rights reserved.