While many students believe that feeling confident about passing a test is a reason not to study, researchers are suggesting this may not actually be the case. Students who are gearing up for standardized tests may want to consider looking over their reviews one more time no matter how prepared they feel.
Research published in the journal Psychological Science found that predictions of how one will do on a test can actually provide a false sense of security that could potentially lead to the opposite performance.
The scientists tested more than 80 participants who ranged in age in order to test the relationship between metamemory, which is the belief or judgment about memory, and overall performance.
"If something is easy to process, you assume you will remember it well," said one of the study's authors Nate Kornell, a Williams College psychologist. "[Second, there's the] stability bias - people act as though their memories will remain the same in the future as they are right now."