Iconic versus working memory metacognition to evaluate the richness of perception: a registered report.
Royal Society open science November 1, 2025 Nicolás Alejandro Comay, Guillermo Solovey, Pablo Barttfeld
Iconic memory (IM) can hold more information than working memory (WM), but people are less aware of what they know in IM. In a registered experiment, participants performed a letter-identification task using either IM or WM. Replicating classic results, IM capacity exceeded WM capacity. However, when performance was matched, metacognitive sensitivity—the ability to judge the accuracy of one's own perceptions—was higher for WM. Contrary to the idea that people overestimate the richness of iconic memory, confidence was lower in IM than in WM. These findings suggest that IM supports identification with less consciously accessible information than WM, challenging the view that visual experience is rich and detailed.