Definition
Memory confidence and memory accuracy are separate variables. Highly confident memories are not necessarily more accurate, and less confident memories are not necessarily wrong.
Why it matters
People routinely conflate certainty with truth in memory. Distinguishing them is essential for both self-understanding and legal contexts.
The Science
Confidence-accuracy relationships in memory are moderate at best and can be dissociated by many factors, including repetition, emotional salience, and social reinforcement.
The NSI Perspective
NSI holds confidence and accuracy as two questions. Both deserve care; neither settles the other.
Clinical Implications
Clinicians can help clients hold their own certainty without over-confidence, and their doubt without over-suspicion.
Practical Application
When you feel certain about a memory, that certainty is itself information — but not proof.
References
- 1.Roediger HL, DeSoto KA. Confidence and memory accuracy. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2015;144(2):290–309.