Journal
CONSCIOUSNESS AND COGNITION
Volume 21, Issue 1, Pages 422-430Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.09.021
Keywords
Metacognition; Signal detection theory; Type 2 sensitivity; Confidence rating
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
How should we measure metacognitive (type 2) sensitivity, i.e. the efficacy with which observers' confidence ratings discriminate between their own correct and incorrect stimulus classifications? We argue that currently available methods are inadequate because they are influenced by factors such as response bias and type 1 sensitivity (i.e. ability to distinguish stimuli). Extending the signal detection theory (SDT) approach of Galvin, Podd, Drga, and Whitmore (2003), we propose a method of measuring type 2 sensitivity that is free from these confounds. We call our measure meta-d', which reflects how much information, in signal-to-noise units, is available for metacognition. Applying this novel method in a 2interval forced choice visual task, we found that subjects' metacognitive sensitivity was close to, but significantly below, optimality. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings, as well as related computational issues of the method. We also provide free Matlab code for implementing the analysis. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available