A person can feel confident and still make errors; another can perform well while doubting their work. Calibration asks how a judgement about performance compares with an external measure of that performance.

Kruger and Dunning’s 1999 studies compared self-assessments with scores on particular tasks, including humour, grammar and logical reasoning. Lower-scoring groups substantially overestimated their relative performance. These were task-specific comparisons, not a tracked journey from beginner to expert.

Use that distinction when evaluating a claim about someone’s ability. Job title, confidence and a single mistake do not provide the task scores and self-assessments needed to examine calibration.