The altered brain and the illusion of knowing

Author(s):  
J. Gail White ◽  
Michelle Flax
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Fabian A. Ryffel ◽  
Werner Wirth

Abstract. The present two-study work aims to contribute to an understanding of the causes and consequences of perceived processing fluency. Regarding its causes, the experimental studies ( N1 = 399; N2 = 337) found that features of television reports (e.g., footage used, background music) can heighten perceptions of processing fluency. Regarding its consequences, it was found that heightened perceived fluency biases metacognitive judgments. Specifically, considering perceived knowledge in relation to actual knowledge, recipients experiencing fluency have been found to overestimate their knowledge about the issue depicted in the experimental stimuli. The resulting illusion of knowing was particularly pronounced under conditions of low involvement, indicating that the so-called ease-of-processing heuristic underlies the effect.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-88
Author(s):  
Марія Августюк

Стаття присвячена теоретичному обґрунтуванню цілеспрямованого педагогічного супроводу в оптимізації метакогнітивного моніторингу навчальної діяльності студентів. Визначено пріоритетні за­в­дан­ня педагога, що спрямовані на сприяння оптимізації метакогнітивного моніторингу навчальної діяль­ності і можливі через визначення, oрiєнтування та кooрдинування пiзнавальнoї дiяльнoстi студентiв. Так, ви­кладач пoвинен звертати увагу на рiвень рoзвитку oсoбистiсних, кoгнiтивних та метакoгнiтивних харак­теристик студентiв; зважати на викoристoвуванi для перевiрки пoтoчнoгo та пiдсумкoвoгo кoнт­рoлю знань студентiв характеристики iнфoрмацiї та завдань (з метoю запoбiгання виникненню iлюзiї знання); враховувати особливості прояву ілюзії знання в метакогнітивних судженнях; враховувати ефекти склад­ності/легкості запам’ятовування, впливу емоційного забарвлення та цікавості інформації, впливу поперед­ніх навчальних успіхів; враховувати специфіку психологічних механізмів, що лежать в основі різних видів метакогнтивного моніторингу; сприяти метакогнітивному моніторингу студентів через зворотний зв’язок, самозвіт щодо розвитку відчуття істинності власного знання тощо. Крім того, завданнями педа­гoга виступають надання мoжливoстi студентам самoстiйнo ствoрювати iндивiдуальну прoграму на­вчання з урахуванням oсoбливoстей свoєї пiдгoтoвки та здiбнoстей; навчання студентiв рiзних кoгнiтивних стратегiй навчальнoї дiяльнoстi з oвoлoдiння прoфесiйними знаннями, з яких вoни мoжуть вiдiбрати найбiльш ефективнi для себе; пoстiйне залучення студентiв дo рефлексивнoї дiяльнoстi. Також здійснено аналіз важливості врахування психологічних характеристик студентів у ході здійснення ними метаког­нітивного моніторингу. Зокрема, підкреслено важливість стимулювання навчальної мотивації студентів, формування у них адекватної самооцінки, розвитку високих показників рефлексивності, метакогнітивних обізнаності, знань та активності, здатності до самостійного оцінювання своєї діяльності та її резуль­татів. Окреслені перспективи подальших розвідок з цієї проблеми The article is dedicated to the theoretical description of the goal-oriented pedagogical assistance in optimization of metacognitive monitoring of the learning activity of university students. In particular, we highlighted priority tasks of university teachers that are oriented to provide assistance with optimization of metacognitive monitoring of the learning activity and are possible through definition, orientation, and coordination of the cognitive activity of university students. Thus, the pedagogical tasks are to provide students with the opportunity to create a self-study program taking into account their own learning backgrounds and interests; training students for different cognitive strategies of the learning activity in the sphere of professional knowledge, from which they are able to choose the most effective ones for themselves; constant involvement of students in reflexive activities. Thus, the teacher is obliged to pay attention to the level of development of personal, cognitive and metacognitive cha­racteristics of students; take into account the use of tools for checking the precise and subjective control of students’ knowledge of the features of information and tasks (with the aim of preventing the occurrence of illusion of knowing); take into account the peculiarities of manifestation of the illusion of knowing in metacognitive judgments; take into account the effects of hard/easy effect of retention, the influence of emotional side and curiosity of infor­mation, the impact of previous learning successes; take into account the specificity of the psychological mechanisms that underlie various types of metacognitive monitoring; promote metacognitive monitoring of students through feedback, self-report on the development of a sense of truth of own knowledge, etc. In addition, an analysis of the importance of psychological characteristics in students’ judgments of metacognitive monitoring was carried out. Among the most important characteristics, student motivation, academic achievements, feedback, and self-regu­lation are the characteristics aimed to provide better understanding of the nature of metacognitive monitoring effectiveness and can help in the annihilation of the negative impact of the illusion of knowing. In particular, the importance of stimulating students’ learning motivation, forming of their adequate self-esteem, development of high indicators of reflectivity, metacognitive awareness, knowledge and activity, ability to independently evaluate their activity and its results is emphasized. The prospects for further researches on this problem are outlined


Author(s):  
Iman Tohidian ◽  
Abbas Abbaspour ◽  
Ali Khorsandi Taskoh

The focus of education during K-12 and Higher Education (HE) in Iran is on theoretical empowerment of students; therefore, our students get an illusion of knowing. In fact, what happens is not learning and understanding; rather, it is verbatim transfer of available information in the textbooks into the students’ minds. It might be because the students and teachers (as the main stakeholders of the education) are the least powerful parties within the pyramid of power amongst educational practitioners and policymakers. It means their voice, feedback, needs, and ideologies have no place in the educational decisions and policies. In alignment with the mainstream of the present research; it is an innovative idea to explore the students’ living/ studying experience during K-12, and their ideals and expectations from higher education studies. To do so, we asked 60 university students to portray their experience (in a phenomenological research design) concerning living and studying through K-12 and their ideals and expectations from Higher Education. Students’ drawings are the main source of data collection and inductive analysis of data is administered to find students’ responses which are categorized under three major and six minor themes, respectively.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002205742094484
Author(s):  
Maura A. E. Pilotti ◽  
Khadija El Alaoui ◽  
Huda Al Mulhem ◽  
Muamar Hasan Salameh

Prediction allows learners to adjust behavior toward the future by exploiting information pertaining to the present and the past. Through a field study, we examined whether poor performing students are truly unaware of not knowing their deficiencies as the illusion of knowing (IoK) phenomenon implies. College students’ ability to predict their final test performance was surveyed as a function of experience (before and after the test), performance level, and self-efficacy. In this study, high performers’ prospective and retrospective predictions were more accurate and confident than those of poor performers. Although poor performers overestimated their grades (as predicted by IoK), they were less confident in their predictions. Furthermore, both their prediction accuracy and confidence benefited from the experience of taking the test. These findings, coupled with the lower self-efficacy of poor performers, suggest that prediction errors involving inflated estimations reflect the wishful thinking exhibited by students who are aware of their lack of competence but may have little confidence in their abilities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 789-807
Author(s):  
Maura A. E. Pilotti ◽  
Khadija El Alaoui ◽  
Huda Mulhem ◽  
Halah A. Al Kuhayli

In the present study, the tendency to overestimate performance (illusion of knowing) was examined in college students whose educational past experiences had emphasized verbatim learning. Female students enrolled in core curriculum classes were sampled. Classes taught by the same instructor were randomly assigned to a self-assessment practice condition, where students predicted their test and class performance and were asked to reflect on discrepancies between predictions and actual performance, or to a control condition. At the end of the semester, irrespective of condition, as performance declined on the final test, predictions of final test grades became more inflated, but less confident, indicating that students were aware of their own deficiencies. Overall, students in the practice condition displayed not only greater prediction accuracy, but also greater final test performance than students in the control condition. Practice, however, benefited the most self-assessment accuracy of students whose final test grades were just above the passing grade. Although the responses to self-assessment practice of students with a teacher-centered educational past were largely similar to the responses of students from Western countries reported in the extant literature, differences in impact and meaning could be inferred.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 260-269
Author(s):  
Марія Августюк

У статті здійснено аналіз ілюзії знання як проблеми у навчальній діяльності студентів. Наведена характеристика основних чинників ілюзії знання. Виявлено, що надмірна впевненість у розумінні інформації та виконанні завдань, в основі якої лежать некомпетентність суб’єктів, когнітивний оптимізм та вплив соціального оточення, є однією з основних причин негативного впливу ілюзії знання на навчальну діяльність. Іншими можливими варіантами пояснення ілюзії знання також можуть бути швидкість винесення передбачень, знайомість інформації за підказками, доступність інформації, легкість виконання тощо. Також проаналізовано ефект недостатньої впевненості та ефект складності-легкості, що залежать як від ступеня складності завдання, так і від відведеного на виконання часу. Окреслено роль ілюзії знання у контексті основних теорій метапізнання (зокрема, звернено увагу на Брунсвікську теорію впевненості та подано опис моделей виникнення надмірної впевненості). Крім того, описано наявні у науковій літературі з цієї проблеми можливі шляхи нівелювання негативного впливу ілюзії знання на ефективність навчальної діяльності, серед яких відзначено сприятливий вплив здатності студентів абстрагуватися від уже знаного навчального матеріалу, повторного опрацювання матеріалу, зворотного зв’язку, відкладених суджень після виконання завдання, оцінювання інформації перед формулюванням суджень про вивчене, самоопитування щодо істинності власного знання тощо. The article analyzes the illusion of knowing as a problem in educational activity of students. Characteristics of the main factors influencing the illusion of knowing are given. It is found that overconfidence in understanding the information and solving the problems based on incompetence of individuals, cognitive optimism and influence of social environment, is one of the main reasons for the negative impact of the illusion of knowing on learning activities. Other possible variations explaining the illusion of knowing may also be the speed of predictions, cue familiarity, availability of information, ease of processing, etc. The effect of underconfidence and hard-easy effect that depend on the complexity of the task and on spent time are also analyzed. The role of the illusion of knowing in the context of the main theories of metacognition is outlined (in particular, the attention is drawn to the Brunswikian Theory of Confidence and to the description of the models of overconfidence). Moreover, there is the description of the available in scientific literature on this issue possible ways of leveling the negative impact of the illusion of knowing on the effectiveness of learning activities, including the favorable impact of the ability of students to ignore the already well-known learning material, re-processing the material, feedback, delayed judgments of learning, assessment of information before making judgments of learning, self-questioning about the truthfulness of knowledge and so on.


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