Always taking the answer from the
most confident partner in a pair led to superior performance for that series
compared with always taking the answer from whichever individual had the most
impressive overall performance. In other words, the more confident of two heads
working together nearly always outperformed the most proficient individual
working on their own. Taking the most confident answer from a virtual group of
three led to even more impressive performance.
The
strategy even worked for people working alone if they were given two chances, a
week apart, to provide answers to a series of questions, as well as rating their
confidence. Always taking the more confident of their answers led to superior
performance overall and was more effective than simply averaging their two
answers.
This strategy of taking the
answer of the most confident partner only worked for questions for which most
people, "the crowd", tend to get the answer right. When the questions
were tricky and wrong-footed most people, then the rule was reversed. Take the
example of "Which city has the larger population - Zurich or Bern?".
Most people get this question wrong - they think it's Bern because that's the
capital, but the correct answer is Zurich. For questions like this, the most
effective strategy is actually to always take the answer of the dyad partner
who is least confident.
You can
boost your quiz performance by unleashing the crowd within, a new study shows.
