Age-related differences in visual confidence are driven by individual differences in cognitive control capacities.
Lena Klever1,2, Pascal Mamassian3, Jutta Billino4,5
1Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. Lena.Klever@psychol.uni-giessen.de.
Scientific Reports
|April 11, 2022
Summary
Older adults show reduced confidence efficiency in visual perception tasks, impacting their ability to gauge decision accuracy. This decline is linked to cognitive control capacities, highlighting challenges in aging metacognition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Vision Science
- Aging Research
Background:
- Visual perception relies on both sensory accuracy and metacognitive confidence.
- Metacognitive ability, crucial for estimating decision accuracy, may decline with age due to sensory noise and reduced cognitive control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in visual confidence and confidence efficiency.
- To explore the relationship between confidence efficiency and cognitive control capacities across age groups.
Main Methods:
- A visual contrast discrimination task with a confidence forced-choice paradigm was employed.
- Confidence efficiency was calculated by comparing discrimination thresholds across all trials versus high-confidence trials.
- Participants included younger adults (19-38 years) and older adults (60-78 years).
Main Results:
- Younger adults exhibited significantly lower discrimination thresholds than older adults.
- While high confidence correlated with better performance in both groups, older adults showed reduced confidence efficiency.
- Confidence efficiency was strongly associated with individual cognitive control capacities, independent of age group.
Conclusions:
- Older adults demonstrate diminished confidence efficiency, a key aspect of metacognition.
- Age-related declines in confidence efficiency are likely driven by reduced cognitive control capacities.
- These findings underscore the importance of cognitive control for maintaining metacognitive function throughout the lifespan.
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