We investigated the cognitive processes that cause confidence to increase. Participants were asked 48 general-knowledge questions either once or three times, without feedback. After 2 min (Experiment 1) or 48 h (Experiment 2) they were asked the same questions again, and rated their confidence. Repeated questioning increased confidence but not accuracy. This increase, which replicated research on episodic memory in the eyewitness literature (e.g., Shaw, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2: 126–146, 1996), occurred even though accuracy was only around 25%. A mediation analysis identified response repetition, but not fluency, as a mechanism underlying growth in confidence. Thus, the basis for confidence judgments appears to be whether one's current response has been generated previously. In sum, answering a factual question increases confidence, but not accuracy, and this happens because learners use response repetition as a cue for confidence judgments.

我们调查了导致自信增加的认知过程。参加者被问过48项关于一般知识的问题，一次或三次，没有反馈。在2分钟（实验1）或48小时（实验2）之后，他们又被问了同样的问题，并对其信心进行了评分。反复提问增加了信心，但没有准确性。这种增加重复了目击者文献中对情节记忆的研究（例如，Shaw，《实验心理学杂志》：2：126-146，1996年），即使准确度仅为25％左右也是如此。调解分析将应答的重复性而非流畅性确定为信心增长的基础。因此，置信度判断的基础似乎是一个人的当前反应是否先前已经产生。总而言之，回答一个事实性问题会增加信心，但不会提高准确性，这是因为学习者将重复反应用作信心判断的线索。