Self-Perceived Knowledge: Some Effects on Information Processing for a Choice Task

Abstract
The distinction between actual and perceived knowledge is discussed and the effects of the latter are empirically investigated in a choice task. Findings suggest that the level of perceived knowledge affects the comprehension and use of interrelationships among new pieces of information in subjects'' choice-decision task. It also influences subjects'' assessments of the importance of old and new information. Subjects with low perceived knowledge were better at detecting the similarity relationship among new items of information than were subjects with high perceived knowledge. Subjects with low perceived knowledge also value old and new information in a different way than those with high perceived knowledge, depending on the relationship between the old and the new information. Implications of the results of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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