The Dunning-Kruger effect states that people unexperienced in a certain field or subject generally perceive themselves as having greater aptitude than in reality they do. Dunning and Kruger were able to quantify this using test-scores in their original paper, but popular expositions typically generalize this in a way consistent with the following plot:As a layman, this form is more interesting to me because it is more generally applicable, but it also suffers from some drawbacks:How should experience/confidence be gauged or measured? Is there a general way to do this which doesn't rely on test scores?Suppose experience is measured in hours spent on the subject. Is there an approximate number of hours at which the peak is reached? The minimum? If so what are these numbers?If an answer to either (but especially 2) is possible or available, it will help conscientious newcomers to any subject estimate the amount of time needed before trusting a self-evaluation of their competency.
Quantifying the Dunning-Kruger Effect
social psychology;perception;personality;experimental psychology