Regulation of memory accuracy with multiple answers: the plurality option

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Memory Research
• Metacognition

Background:

• Memory accuracy is crucial for eyewitness testimony and decision-making.
• Existing research focuses on factors like suggestibility and retrieval cues.
• A novel regulatory mechanism, the plurality option, is introduced to influence memory reporting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the plurality option as a mechanism for regulating memory accuracy.
• To examine how individuals choose between single and plural answers based on perceived accuracy.
• To explore the relationship between confidence, accuracy, and the selected answer format.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using slideshows depicting crimes (robbery, murder).
• Participants answered five-alternative multiple-choice questions about the slideshows.
• Participants generated both single and plural answers, rating confidence/likelihood, with one answer selected for reporting.

Main Results:

• Participants strategically employed the plurality option to regulate memory accuracy.
• Single answers were selected when accuracy and confidence were high; plural answers were chosen when low.
• A dissociation was observed: plural answers were more accurate but rated less confident, while single answers were less accurate but rated more confident.

Conclusions:

• The plurality option serves as a metacognitive tool for memory regulation.
• Overconfidence in single answers and underconfidence in plural answers contribute to the confidence-accuracy dissociation.
• Metacognitive beliefs about knowledge states may lead to extreme subjective confidence ratings.