"How much do I know?": Children's evaluations of their absolute and relative knowledge

The current study explores the relation between how children evaluate their knowledge when thinking only about what they know (i.e., absolute knowledge) and when they compare their knowledge to that of an expert (i.e., relative knowledge). Children ages 6-10 (N = 148; 77 boys, 71 girls; 74% White; 87% non-Hispanic) completed measures of their absolute explanatory knowledge about common and uncommon animals and vehicles and their knowledge relative to an expert about the same topics. Children's absolute and relative knowledge judgments were closely related, and, in both tasks, children rated their explanatory knowledge higher for common than for uncommon items. Children's relative knowledge ratings also decreased with age, and children who rated their absolute knowledge highly still frequently believed that experts knew more than them. Implications for children's learning are discussed.