Is the cognitive reflection test a measure of both reflection and intuition?

Abstract

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is one of the most widely used tools to assess individual differences in intuitive-analytic cognitive styles. The CRT is of broad interest because each of its items reliably cues a highly available and superficially appropriate but incorrect response, conventionally deemed the Bintuitiver esponse. To do well on the CRT, participants must reflect on and question the intuitive responses. The CRT score typically employed is the sum of correct responses, assumed to indicate greater Breflectiveness( i.e., CRT-Reflective scoring). Some recent researchers have, however, inverted the rationale of the CRT by summing the number of intuitive incorrect responses, creating a putative measure of intuitiveness (i.e., CRTIntuitive). We address the feasibility and validity of this strategy by considering the problem of the structural dependency of these measures derived from the CRT and by assessing their respective associations with selfreport measures of intuitive-analytic cognitive styles: the Faith in Intuition and Need for Cognition scales. Our results indicated that, to the extent that the dependency problem can be addressed, the CRT-Reflective but not the CRT-Intuitive measure predicts intuitive-analytic cognitive styles. These results provide evidence that the CRT is a valid measure of reflective but not of intuitive thinking.

Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics

“…The results confirmed that, in line with several previous studies (e.g., Campitelli & Gerrans, 2014;Cueva et al, 2016;Frederick, 2005;Pennycook et al, 2016;Primi et al, 2016), gender was related to performance on the CRT (i.e., men scored significantly higher than women). However, the gender differences disappeared when numerical skills and math-related anxiety were statistically controlled.…”

The cognitive reflection test is robust to multiple exposures

“…Yet, it's incorrect: If the ball costs 10 cents, the bat would have to cost $1.10, and in total they would cost $1.20. The correct response is 5 cents, an answer that is reached by only roughly 30% of university undergraduates, depending on the university (De Neys, Rossi, & Houdé, 2013;Frederick, 2005;Pennycook, Cheyne, Koehler, & Fugelsang, 2016). However, errors are also not random: Almost all who get CRT questions wrong give the intuitive response (Campitelli & Gerrans, 2014;Frederick, 2005;Pennycook, Cheyne, et al, 2016).…”

“…The correct response is 5 cents, an answer that is reached by only roughly 30% of university undergraduates, depending on the university (De Neys, Rossi, & Houdé, 2013;Frederick, 2005;Pennycook, Cheyne, Koehler, & Fugelsang, 2016). However, errors are also not random: Almost all who get CRT questions wrong give the intuitive response (Campitelli & Gerrans, 2014;Frederick, 2005;Pennycook, Cheyne, et al, 2016). Moreover, the majority of participants who answer correctly are aware of the incorrect intuitive answer, whereas those who got it wrong naturally failed to consider the correct answer (Mata, Ferreira, & Sherman, 2013;Pennycook, Ross, Koehler, & Fugelsang, 2017).…”

Cognitive reflection and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections

“…A higher score indicates greater cognitive reflection. The CRT measures a construct related to rational thinking (6,7), distinct from intuitive thinking (8) or numeracy (9), and may have a physiological basis (10,11).…”