title: Adult age differences in the realism of confidence judgments: overconfidence, format dependence, and cognitive predictors.
abstract: Realistic confidence judgments are essential to everyday functioning, but few studies have addressed the issue of age differences in overconfidence. Therefore, the authors examined this issue with probability judgment and intuitive confidence intervals in a sample of 122 healthy adults (ages: 35-40, 55-60, 70-75 years). In line with predictions based on the naïve sampling model (P. Juslin, A. Winman, & P. Hansson, 2007), substantial format dependence was observed, with extreme overconfidence when confidence was expressed as an intuitive confidence interval but not when confidence was expressed as a probability judgment. Moreover, an age-related increase in overconfidence was selectively observed when confidence was expressed as intuitive confidence intervals. Structural equation modeling indicated that the age-related increases in overconfidence were mediated by a general cognitive ability factor that may reflect executive processes. Finally, the results indicated that part of the negative influence of increased age on general ability may be compensated for by an age-related increase in domain-relevant knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Umea University, Umea, Sweden. patrik.hansson@psy.umu.se
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rönnlund
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Juslin
authors.forename: Lars-Göran
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D019545:Intuition; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011336:Probability