Webb, Olivia T. Do Beliefs Alter the Relationship between the Confidence and Accuracy of Facial Recognition Judgements? Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
There is a growing argument that beliefs can alter our metacognitive judgments (Benjamin et al., 1998; Koriat & Bjork, 2006; Mueller & Dunlosky, 2017; Rhodes & Castel, 2008). This theory-based judgment approach has been primarily studied using judgments of learning (JOLs); however, confidence has not been examined. My thesis aimed to examine the effects of beliefs in general memory on the confidence-accuracy relationship. My primary hypotheses are that altering one’s belief about memory will alter their confidence in their own memory, but that it will not affect the accuracy of their memory. This will lead to a difference in the confidence-accuracy relationship. My secondary hypothesis examines why this causal relationship is occurring, by predicting that this relationship is mediated by the participants beliefs about recognition memory. Participants were exposed to one of two types of messaging that were designed to alter their beliefs in the accuracy of facial recognition memory: that people are generally very good at facial recognition or that people are generally very poor at facial recognition. They participated in an old/new facial recognition test and rated their confidence in memory for each face. Results indicate that there is no difference in confidence between the two conditions and there was a strong relationship between confidence and accuracy in both conditions. This relationship was not affected by the beliefs condition. There is indirect-only mediation with belief altering statements influencing the criterion/confidence-accuracy relationship, only through the mediator of beliefs about memory. These findings can be applied to eyewitness identification and can help determine what factors must be considered when using confidence to measure recognition accuracy.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jun 2025 00:41 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jun 2025 00:41 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/1184 |
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