The confidence-accuracy relation – A comparison of metacognition measures in lie detection

Previous research has produced mixed results on the question of whether confidence in ad hoc veracity judgments can be used as an indicator of judgment accuracy. These studies have used a variety of measures to analyze the confidence-accuracy relationship; however, they have rarely explicitly addressed why a particular measure was chosen and what its properties are. We theoretically and empirically examined previously used measures of metacognition in lie detection and report the results these measures yielded in re-analyses of 12 lie detection studies (total N = 2817 participants). Regardless of the measure, none of the studies found a confidence-accuracy relationship. Discrepancies between the measures are likely due to conceptual differences between them, emphasizing the importance of carefully selecting appropriate measures for the research question at hand. More work on the underlying processes of confidence judgments in lie detection is needed to improve the assessment of confidence and the selection of appropriate measures.