Although anyone can be susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect, rest assured that it doesn’t indicate low intelligence, only a lack of reflection on your abilities. Learning about how our brain works and understanding these cognitive biases helps us recognize the tricks our mind can play on us. 

So, here are some advice on how to gather a more realistic assessment of your abilities (without letting the Dunning-Kruger effect ruin your learning):

• Keep learning and practicing, even when you think you are already an expert

  • The more you learn, the more you will find out there is to learn, which will also combat the tendency to assume you’re an expert when you’re not.

• Ask others for feedback

  • Although criticism can sometimes be hard to hear, it can provide valuable insights into your levels of competence, and how others perceive your abilities.

• Question what you already know

  • When learning more about a subject, people tend to pay attention to facts that confirm what they already know (this is also known as confirmation bias, which can reinforce the Dunning-Kruger effect). Keep challenging your beliefs and seek out information that challenges your ideas to widen your knowledge.

• Use second-level thinking to make decisions

  • Instead of jumping to obvious conclusions, test your assumptions by asking yourself questions such as: what are blind spots here? Am I missing information? 

• Take smart notes

  • By visualizing your knowledge it can be easier to identify thought patterns and notice gaps in your knowledge (remember to check out our blog post for tips on note-taking).

• Familiarize yourself with the Dunning-Kruger effect

  • Simply knowing about the effect can help minimize its impact. Remember that thinking you are bad at something is not all bad: at least you have enough insight to recognize your incompetence.

These tips can help overcome the Dunning-Kruger effect and make your learning process more efficient. Additionally, our teachers at Lektor help our students by focusing not only on what students learn but how they learn it. Our experienced and educated teachers know how to recognize the Dunning-Kruger effect not only in themselves but also in students and therefore tailor the teaching accordingly. Through constructive use of reflection and feedback, we believe that low performers can grow into brilliant achievers.