Publications

Abstract not provided.

Research shows that individuals often overestimate their knowledge and performance without realizing they have done so, which can lead to faulty technical outcomes. This phenomenon is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). This research sought to determine if some individuals were more prone to overestimating their performance due to underlying personality and cognitive characteristics. To test our hypothesis, we first collected individual difference measures. Next, we asked participants to estimate their performance on three performance tasks to assess the likelihood of overestimation. We found that some individuals may be more prone to overestimating their performance than others, and that faulty problem-solving abilities and low skill may be to blame. Encouraging individuals to think critically through all options and to consult with others before making a high-consequence decision may reduce overestimation.

This document is UUR survey questions for use in an exploratory express LDRD experiment. The purpose of the study is to understand if people overestimate their performance only in some situations or some people are more prone to it do to an underlying trait. To investigate our aims, we must use 3 experimental tasks: two domain general (an English grammar task a logic task) and a domain specific task (a science & technology questionnaire). The reason we are using these tasks is to see if people overestimate their abilities on tasks they are more familiar with (grammar and logic) but not on domains in which they are more specialized (science and technology). To understand the traits and characteristics of our participants, we are using 7 well-validated assessments from the field of psychology. All questionnaires are available for research and teaching purposes. Citations for all materials have been included.

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.