The formation and use of perceptual confidence

Metacognition, the ability to think about our own thoughts and mental processes, enables us to self-evaluate our decisions and feel more or less confident in our choices. Even the most basic decisions, about what we see, come with a feeling of confidence. The study of perceptual confidence enables tight experimental control of the underlying information used to form feelings of confidence, and probes the depth of our self-insight. In this thesis I describe my work contributing to our understanding of how confidence forms: the computational algorithm of confidence, and how confidence forms over time, during decision-making. I then present my work examining the use of confidence, in particular, how it might be used to improve not only future decisions, but forms part of the system of processes that enables our efficient interaction with the world.