Unit 7: The Dunning-Kruger Effect

How smart are you?
Are you sure?

​

​Why is chess mentioned
in this text?

​Kroo Moo-Noi

​ In 1995, a man named Arthur McWheeler tried to rob a bank. He had heard that lemon juice could be used as invisible ink. He covered his face in lemon juice, thinking that the security cameras wouldn't see him! Of course, he was arrested.

​Kroo Moo-Noi

​ Two American psychologists, David Dunning and Justin Kruger, were interested in this crime. They wanted to know more about humans' knowledge of their own intelligence. They tested some university students, and asked them if they thought they did well in the test. The weak students thought they were smarter than they were in reality. The strong students thouht they were weaker.

​Kroo Moo-Noi

​ Dunning and Kruger suggested that, if you are not clever, you can't realise that fact. Conversely, if you are very clever, you think everyone must be as clever as you. This is called the Dunning- Kruger Effect.

​Kroo Moo-Noi

​ The experiment was repeated many times. Dunning and Kruger tested different skills including reading, grammar, driving and chess. Every time the result was the same - the weakest believed they were the strongest. However, the psychologists also discovered something else. After a small amount of training, people were better at estimating their skills. Suddenly, they understood how much they didn't know.

​Kroo Moo-Noi

​ Although Dunning and Kruger made the idea famous, many great thinkers had mentioned it before. William Shakespeare wrote, "The fool thinks he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." There is also a line in the Chinese Tao Te Ching that says that says, "Those who think they know never learn."

​Kroo Moo-Noi