Individual Differences in Autobiographical Memory Predict Memory Confidence but Not Memory Accuracy

To assess the accuracy of an eyewitness testimony, ratings of memory confidence are often used. However, memory accuracy and confidence are rarely studied in relation to individual differences in autobiographical memory. Here, we examined the relationship between memory accuracy, memory confidence, and individual differences in the recollective experience of autobiographical memory, measured by the autobiographical recollection test (ART; Berntsen et al., 2019). Across three experiments, a total of 1,065 Mturk workers completed the ART, watched a simulated event, and completed a forced choice recall test immediately after the encoding (Experiment 1), after a 2-day delay (Experiment 2), or a free recall task (Experiment 3). Finally, participants rated memory confidence. Across the experiments, the ART showed no association with objective accuracy while holding a predictive value of confidence, even when controlling for objective accuracy. The findings have implications for research on metacognitive judgments of memory accuracy and eyewitness testimony.