The relationship between response speed, confidence and accuracy in series of correct and incorrect decision-making

Abstract

This study aims to examine the association between response speed, confidence, and accuracy during problem-solving. Our research addresses the issue of inconsistent evidence regarding the relationship between these decision-making features. Drawing upon a comprehensive literature review, we hypothesized that response speed and confidence are linked to the frequency of correct and incorrect responses. The study included 66 participants aged 18 to 40 years (53% females). The experimental design encompassed multiple series of decision-making tasks in which a participant had to assess the correspondence between a presented stimulus and a previously encountered one. Examination of both recurring correct and incorrect responses allowed to discern the decision-making patterns. Specifically, in tasks where participants more frequently produced accurate responses, those responses were characterized by heightened speed and confidence, compared to incorrect responses. Conversely, tasks associated with frequent incorrect responses demonstrated faster and more confident errors, in contrast to tasks with prevalent correct responses. Notably, this disparity was evident solely when correct responses were more frequent and consistently repeated across series. However, as the number of errors escalated, this pattern gradually diminished and, in some cases, even reversed.