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Child witnesses’ metamemory realism

Allwood, Carl Martin LU ; Granhag, Pär Anders and Jonsson, Anna-Carin LU (2006) In Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 47(6). p.461-470
Abstract
This study investigated the degree of realism in the confidence judgments of 11 to 12-year-olds (41 girls and 40 boys) of their answers to questions relating to a short film clip showing a kidnapping event. Four different confidence scales were used: a numeric scale, a picture scale, a line scale and a written scale. The results demonstrated that the children showed a high level of overconfidence in their memories. However, no significant differences between the four confidence scales were found. Weak gender differences were found in that the girls were slightly, but significantly, better calibrated than the boys. In addition, although both boys and girls overestimated the total number of memory questions they had answered correctly, the... (More)
This study investigated the degree of realism in the confidence judgments of 11 to 12-year-olds (41 girls and 40 boys) of their answers to questions relating to a short film clip showing a kidnapping event. Four different confidence scales were used: a numeric scale, a picture scale, a line scale and a written scale. The results demonstrated that the children showed a high level of overconfidence in their memories. However, no significant differences between the four confidence scales were found. Weak gender differences were found in that the girls were slightly, but significantly, better calibrated than the boys. In addition, although both boys and girls overestimated the total number of memory questions they had answered correctly, the boys gave higher estimates compared with the girls. In brief, the results indicate that, at least in the context investigated, 11-12 year-old children's confidence in and estimations of their own event memory show poor realism (overconfidence and overestimation). A comparison with previous research on adults indicates that 11 to 12-year-old children show noticeably poorer realism. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
confidence, realism, 11 to 12-year-olds, metacognition, Eyewitness memory
in
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
volume
47
issue
6
pages
461 - 470
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000242725900003
  • scopus:33751106133
  • pmid:17107494
ISSN
1467-9450
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9450.2006.00530.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
28921582-18cf-418d-8fd4-f65ce1e86fae (old id 819310)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:04:56
date last changed
2022-04-21 02:09:20
@article{28921582-18cf-418d-8fd4-f65ce1e86fae,
  abstract     = {{This study investigated the degree of realism in the confidence judgments of 11 to 12-year-olds (41 girls and 40 boys) of their answers to questions relating to a short film clip showing a kidnapping event. Four different confidence scales were used: a numeric scale, a picture scale, a line scale and a written scale. The results demonstrated that the children showed a high level of overconfidence in their memories. However, no significant differences between the four confidence scales were found. Weak gender differences were found in that the girls were slightly, but significantly, better calibrated than the boys. In addition, although both boys and girls overestimated the total number of memory questions they had answered correctly, the boys gave higher estimates compared with the girls. In brief, the results indicate that, at least in the context investigated, 11-12 year-old children's confidence in and estimations of their own event memory show poor realism (overconfidence and overestimation). A comparison with previous research on adults indicates that 11 to 12-year-old children show noticeably poorer realism.}},
  author       = {{Allwood, Carl Martin and Granhag, Pär Anders and Jonsson, Anna-Carin}},
  issn         = {{1467-9450}},
  keywords     = {{confidence; realism; 11 to 12-year-olds; metacognition; Eyewitness memory}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{461--470}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Psychology}},
  title        = {{Child witnesses’ metamemory realism}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2006.00530.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1467-9450.2006.00530.x}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}