| Sumario: | Background: Explorative online information search activities are self‐regulated learning processes that require monitoring in the form of accurate metacognitive judgments about one's own knowledge. People have to judge what they know, but also understand what they do not know. Previous research has explored those two aspects in relation to each other mostly by employing measures of metacognitive calibration and points toward a potential detrimental effect of using the internet to answer knowledge test items. Objectives: This research aimed to disentangle those two aspects of knowledge and to describe a false certainty effect (FaCE), indicating an increase in confidence in the correctness of incorrect responses in a knowledge test after online information search. We also aimed to further explore the conditions under which this effect occurs. Methods: In two studies participants' knowledge and on‐item confidence ratings were measured before and after a short online information search activity. In Study 1, we analyzed data of two samples with and without knowledge gain. In Study 2, we manipulated the familiarity of knowledge test items and whether there was an information search activity. Results: Study 1 showed that false certainty occurred even when a search activity did not lead to any learning success. This FaCE, however, was stronger when there was actual knowledge gain. In Study 2, we found that the effect was caused by the information search activity itself and not by the pre‐post methodology of identical knowledge‐test items. Implications: Our results demonstrate the emergence of increased confidence in the correctness of incorrect responses in knowledge tests after online information search activities. Educators and researchers should be aware of this undesired false certainty effect of computer‐assisted learning on individuals' knowledge monitoring. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Online information search in order to learn about a knowledge topic is a frequent activity in everyday life and different educational contexts.Individuals engaging in online search need to regulate their learning behaviour, which can be challenging.Monitoring what is known and (not yet) known is an important aspect of those regulatory processes. What this paper adds: Online information search activities with or without knowledge gain result in increased certainty in one's knowledge.Such activities also increase false certainty in what is not known as measured by confidence in the correctness of false answers to knowledge test items.This increase in false certainty can be observed for different knowledge topics and varying information search contexts. Implications for practice and/or policy: Our results highlight the need for educators to think about efforts to reduce the false certainty effect in online information search.
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