Abstract
Metacognition, the ability to internally evaluate our own cognitive performance, is particularly useful since many real-life decisions lack immediate feedback. While most previous studies have focused on the construction of confidence at the level of single decisions, little is known about the formation of “global” self-performance estimates (SPEs) aggregated from multiple decisions. Here, we compare the formation of SPEs in the presence and absence of feedback, testing a hypothesis that local decision confidence supports the formation of SPEs when feedback is unavailable. We reveal that humans pervasively underestimate their performance in the absence of feedback, compared to a condition with full feedback, despite objective performance being unaffected. We find that fluctuations in confidence contribute to global SPEs over and above objective accuracy and reaction times. Our findings create a bridge between a computation of local confidence and global SPEs, and support a functional role for confidence in higher-order behavioral control.
Highlights
Metacognition, the ability to internally evaluate our own cognitive performance, is useful since many real-life decisions lack immediate feedback
In contrast to the recent progress made in understanding the neural and computational basis of local estimates of decision confidence[19,20,32], little is known about the formation of such global self-performance estimates (SPEs)
We observed that subjects were able to construct SPEs efficiently for short blocks of a perceptual decision task of variable difficulty
Summary
Metacognition, the ability to internally evaluate our own cognitive performance, is useful since many real-life decisions lack immediate feedback. Decision confidence is proposed to correspond to a probability that a choice was correct[19], and, empirically, confidence computations are thought to depend on a network of the prefrontal and parietal brain areas[5,15,20,21] Despite this intensive focus on the construction of “local” confidence at the level of individual decisions, it remains unclear whether and how local confidence estimates might be aggregated over time to form “global” self-performance estimates (SPEs). If we believe we are unable to succeed at a particular task, we may be unlikely to try in the first place In certain situations, such beliefs may exert stronger influences on our behavior than objective performance[25,26], and distortions in global self-evaluation have been associated with various psychiatric symptoms[27,28]. Despite their widespread behavioral influence, little is known about the mechanisms supporting the formation of global
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
