Table 7.

Factors proposed as responsible for increased overconfidence with explanatory knowledge relative to other knowledge domains

	Devices	Natural Phenomena	Narratives	Facts (Capitals)	Procedures
Ease of confusing environmental     support with internal representation     (e.g., vivid parts for interaction)	+++	+++	+		+
Ease of confusing levels of analysis     (e.g., function w/mechanism)	+++	+++	+
Ease of confusing labels with mechanism	++ ++	+
Indeterminate end state/difficulty of     self-test		++	++		+
Lack of experience with production	++	++		++
Desirability (from Study 11)	2.73	3.69	4.44	3.37	3.52
Overconfidence (T1–T2 from Studies 7–10)	.918	.860	.351	.291	−.173

Note. The number of plus signs indicate the estimated relative contribution of each factor to overconfidence. Several factors combine to produce extensive overconfidence with explanatory knowledge (e.g., explanations of Devices and Natural Phenomena). Desirability and overconfidence are measured variables from Studies 7–11.