The DK Effect refers to the phenomenon or cognitive bias whereby unskilled people tend to overestimate their expertise/knowledge in a particular field. 

Emory University

A cognitive bias when people overestimate their knowledge in a particular field, underestimating how much they do not know. It can be described as an over-confidence in one’s expertise, or “ignorance of one’s own ignorance”. People who experience this are unaware that they do, making it incredibly dangerous. 

The Dunning Kruger Effect

Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121–1134. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1121

Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

Unskilled people who lack the cognitive resources to perform well will, in turn, be deprived of any metacognitive insight into their failings. In short, 
people who exhibit the Dunning-Krueger Effect not only make erroneous judgments but also cannot realize their mistakes. 

The Dual Burden of Unskilled People

Dunning and Kruger found that highly competent individuals also exhibit some bias in their self-assessments. Participants ranking in the top quartile tended to underestimate their ability and test performance relative to their peers in the lower quartiles. 

The Burden of Expertise

Dunning and Kruger explored their predictions of the DK Effect through 4 studies designed to assess the participants' abilities and test performance in a particular domain. 

1. Logical Reasoning Experiment(Study 2 & 4)

2. Grammar Skills Experiment(Study 3)

3. Humor Assessment Experiment(Study 1)

The Original Experiments Conducted by Dunning and Kruger

Based on previous, fragmented empirical evidence, Dunning and Kruger predicted the relationships between competence, metacognitive ability, and inflated self-assessment.

Prediction 1: 

Prediction 2:

Prediction 3:

Prediction 4:

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