V. Stretch et Jt. Wixted, DECISION RULES FOR RECOGNITION MEMORY CONFIDENCE JUDGMENTS, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 24(6), 1998, pp. 1397-1410
According to the standard signal-detection model of recognition memory
, confidence judgments for recognition responses are reached in much t
he same way that old-new decisions are reached (i.e., on the basis of
criteria situated along the strength-of-evidence axis). The question i
nvestigated here is how the confidence criteria shift when recognition
accuracy is manipulated across conditions. Although several theories
assume that the old-new decision criterion shifts when recognition acc
uracy changes, less is known about how the confidence criteria move. A
n analysis of data previously reported by R. Ratcliff, G. McKoon, and
M. Tindall (1994) and some new data reported here suggest that the con
fidence criteria fan out on the decision axis as d' decreases. This re
sult is qualitatively consistent with the predictions of a likelihood
ratio model, although the data did not support the stronger quantitati
ve predictions of this account.