Judging Ones Performance or Predicting Future EventsKonstantin Nestoiter, B. Sc (Psychology)1 and Matthew Crump, PhD (Psychology) 1,2

1 Brooklyn College, NY 2 Vanderbilt University, TN

IntroductionThe knowledge of a human being can be acquired by either conscious learning, unconscious learning or both at the same time. Conscious learning or explicit learning is processing information that is later retrieved by using some kind of thought process, for example recalling historic facts or remembering the highlights of a relatives last birthday. Unconscious learning or implicit learning is processing information within the background (Willingham, 2001). Implicit memories are retrieved automatically. An example of an implicit memory is remembering how to walk or performing a skill, such as typing. After learning a skill such as walking, people rarely need to ask themselves which foot they will put in front of another to complete the task.

MethodsA total of 20 students (14 females) went through a series of typing trials.All 20 subjects were instructed to sit in front of a 21.5 inch iMac computer with a LCD display, using the program LIVECODE.1. Every participant, before the experiment began, signed a consent form and filled out a short typing experience questionnaire. 2. On each trial typists were presented with a single word or nonword string. They were first asked to predict whether or not they were able to type the word or string that was presented on the computer screen faster or slower than normal by pressing "0" for fast or "1" for slow. 3. Typists then typed the target word or string. 4. After typing the word, the subjects pressed the space bar to end typing and then they were asked to judge their performance on whether or not they actually did type it faster or slower.5. After completion of the main experimental task, typists were given a brief typing test that involved copy-typing a short paragraph. After the experiment each participant was debriefed about the purpose of the experiment.

ResultsAll subjects underwent a 2 (judgment condition: predict vs. judge) x 2 (speed: fast vs. slow) within subjects design.

DiscussionPeople are much better at judging their own performance versus predicting how they are going to do. There is evidence that planning an action and executing an action occurs at the same area of the brain, therefore people often times are confused on whether or not they actually performed a task or just imagined how they will perform it. A typist has a greater potential to judge their own performance than predicting the outcome due to the fact that judging the past carries more certainty than predicting the future.

AbstractIndividuals process information differently, depending on the task. We can store this information explicitly or implicitly into our memory. In this experiment, 20 subjects went through 200 trials of words and 200 trials of letter strings. Results indicated that people are in fact better at judging their own performance after completing the task. This is because they have explicit information that they can reference in order to make a correct judgment. Due to the fact that judging past events carries more certainty than predicting the future, experienced typist have a greater potential to judge their own performance than predicting the outcomes of a task that hasn’t yet been completed

AcknowledgementAssistance of Medical University of the Americas for printing the poster was greatly acknowledged.