2026/04/30 by Kevin O'Neill, Tianqi Zhan, Stephen M Fleming · 1 voice
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Memory Processes and Influences #Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
paper · doi:10.31234/osf.io/q7pwd_v1
Research on metacognition critically relies on psychophysical measures that are independent of task performance. Although there exist well-validated measures of metacognitive efficiency (i.e., the degree to which confidence ratings distinguish between correct and incorrect decisions), relatively less attention has been paid to developing corresponding measures of metacognitive bias (i.e., the overall tendency to make responses with high confidence). Most researchers currently use mean confidence as a proxy for metacognitive bias, however this measure is confounded by changes in accuracy, response bias, and metacognitive sensitivity. Here, we introduce a new signal detection theoretic measure of metacognitive bias (meta-delta) and demonstrate that it is independent of a range of potential confounds. Then, by analyzing longitudinal data, we show that this measure is reliable enough to use in psychological research. Overall, we advocate for the use of meta-delta as a principled measure of metacognitive bias.