changes during childhood since measures of Gf and Gc may be much more sensitive to age-related changes
during childhood.
Although psychometric properties of online measures of confidence are satisfactory, some educational psycholo-
gists have been reluctant to embrace their use. A common reason appears to be the perceived close temporal
proximity between the cognitive activity of solving a problem and confidence in the accuracy of the solution
itself. It seems that those holding such views fail to appreciate empirical evidence showing that typical correla-
tions of .40 to .60 between accuracy and confidence are similar in size to the correlations between measures of
fluid and crystallized intelligence and that a separate confidence factor has been repeatedly reported (e.g.,
Stankov, 2000 ).
Below we present two scale examples employing different online measures of confidence. The first, the
Proverbs Matching Test /C0a subtest of the Stankov Test of Cognitive Ability (STOCA) battery that measures both
crystallized and fluid intelligence /C0uses a discrete, categorical, numerical scale ( Stankov & Dolph, 2000 ). The
second, the Future Life Events Scale (Kleitman, 2008; Kleitman & Stankov, 2007 ), employs a discrete verbal scale
based on Sureness, rather than confidence itself. The sureness scale is presented here in order to illustrate that
cognitive processing may be minimal, and yet the validity of the Sureness scale is comparable to the online
assessment used in the Proverbs Matching Test .
PROVERBS MATCHING TEST
Directions:
In this test you will be given proverbs. Your task is to choose a proverb that is the closest in meaning to the first.
Here is an example:
‘Birds of a feather flock together.’
(a)Opposites attract
(b) Tell me what company you keep and I will tell you who you are
(c)There is little friendship in the world and least of all between equals
(d)To check an elephant, inspect its tail
(e)Shared joy is doubled joy
In this example the correct answer is (b) since ‘Tell me what company you keep and I will tell you who you are’ is
closer in meaning to the ‘Birds of a feather flock together’ than any other alternative answer.
After each item you will be asked to state how confide nt you are that your answer is correct. A guess corre-
sponds closely to 0% confidence so you should give this as your rating. Absolute certainty corresponds to 100%
confidence. Please make your choice from the ratings provided on the sheet. Please work as quickly and accurately
as you can.
1.The truth is immortal, but the man who tells the truth will become dead.
Truth lies at the bottom of a well.
Better a lie that heals than a truth that wounds.
One is always wrong, but with two, truth begins.
Truth is mighty and will prevail.
The truth of a word depends on how you understand it.
How confident are you that your answer is correct?
20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
2.A fisherman of shallow seas uses a short line; a fisherman of deeper seas uses a long line.
No bird soars too high, if she soars with her own wings.
Those who say it cannot be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.
You will only reach as far as you aim and prepare yourself to reach.
Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.180 7. MEASURES OF THE TRAIT OF CONFIDENCE
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS