Poster Session 11 Program Schedule
02/17/2024
10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)
Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology | Education/Training | Professional Practice Issues
Final Abstract #57
Examining the Dunning-Kruger Effect on Visual Puzzles Performance
Mariam Gomez, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
Isabel Muñoz, The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, United States
Natalie Gevoglanian, Alliant International University, Los Angeles, United States
Walter Daniel Lopez Hernandez, UCSD Health, San Diego, United States
Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience
Keyword 1: multiculturalism
Keyword 2: visuospatial functions
Keyword 3: diversity
Objective:
Individuals tend to overestimate their abilities in areas where they are less competent. This cognitive bias is known as the Dunning-Krueger effect. A study showed that the Dunning-Krueger effect occurs in a sample of healthy Hispanic participants and persons that have suffered a traumatic brain injury. The Visual Puzzles (VP) task is a subtest from the Fourth Edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale which evaluates nonverbal reasoning and the ability to synthesize abstract visual stimuli (Wechsler, 2008, p. 14). Investigators have validated a measure of perceived mental workload called the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Research shows that workload ratings on the NASA-TLX increased with high task demands on cognitive tasks. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the Dunning-Kruger effect occurs in a Spanish speaking population and possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the VP task. We predicted the low-performance group would demonstrate better VP performance and report higher perceived workloads on the VP task compared to the high-performance group.
Participants and Methods:
The sample consisted of 48 participants with a mean age of 27.90 (SD = 12.26). Participants were neurologically and psychologically healthy. Our sample was divided into two groups: the low-performance group and the high-performance group. Participants completed the VP task and the NASA-TLX in Spanish. The NASA-TLX examines perceived workload (e.g., effort) and it was used in the present study to evaluate possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the VP task. Participants completed the NASA-TLX after completing the VP task. Moreover, the performance raw score from the VP task was averaged to create the following two groups: low-performance (score <13) and high-performance (score 13+). A series of independent sample T-tests were used to evaluate VP performance and perceived workloads. All participants passed performance validity testing.
Results:
We found the high-performance group (M = 7.61, SD = .94) significantly outperformed the low-performance group (M = 16.80, SD = 2.90) on the VP task, t(29.38)=-15.01, p < .001. Regarding perceived workloads, we found no significant differences between our performance groups. However, significant perceived performances were approaching, where the low-performance group (M = 59.13, SD = 27.37) reported better performance on the VP compared to the high-performance group (M = 42.80, SD = 29.48), t(45.99)=1.99, p = .053.
Conclusions:
The Dunning-Kruger effect did not occur in our sample. Nevertheless, participants that demonstrated better VP performance reported to have done worse on the VP task. This finding suggests that persons who overperformed on the VP task are underestimating their visual perception abilities. Furthermore, no perceived workload differences on the NASA-TLX were found. Current literature shows that present levels of anxiety and time perspective can influence cognition. Future research with bigger sample sizes should examine if the Dunning-Kruger effect influences persons with normal symptoms of anxiety compared to persons with abnormal symptoms of anxiety and if time perspective influences VP task performance.
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