It all depends. If a player doesn't have much respect for their opponent, they might play on in a lost position that still has chances for a mistake from their opponent. However, at whichever level anyone plays, most people will resign when they realise that they have no realistic chance to win or draw the game anymore.
For someone to be able to know immediately and accurately when they are lost in any position, they would have to have solved the game of chess, and therefore most likely, could never lose, since my opinion is that chess is a draw with best play.
At what level of chess mastery does one know immediately when his/her position is hopelessly lost and a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream is in order to soothe the crushing defeat?
I'd hazzard to guess that it would take a very strong chess player to resign in this most masterful way.