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Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making
Abstract
This paper introduces a three-item “Cognitive Reflection Test” (CRT) as a simple measure of one type of cognitive ability—the ability or disposition to reflect on a question and resist reporting the first response that comes to mind. The author will show that CRT scores are predictive of the types of choices that feature prominently in tests of decision-making theories, like expected utility theory and prospect theory. Indeed, the relation is sometimes so strong that the preferences themselves effectively function as expressions of cognitive ability—an empirical fact begging for a theoretical explanation. The author examines the relation between CRT scores and two important decision-making characteristics: time preference and risk preference. The CRT scores are then compared with other measures of cognitive ability or cognitive “style.” The CRT scores exhibit considerable difference between men and women and the article explores how this relates to sex differences in time and risk preferences. The final section addresses the interpretation of correlations between cognitive abilities and decision-making characteristics.
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“we find the participants’ accuracy increased by 2.1 percentage points (z(16002) = 4.6, β = 2.1, p < 0.001, 95% CI = [1.2, 3.0]) for each of the three Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT)73 questions they answered correctly.”
From Human detection of political speech deepfakes across transcripts, audio, and video (2024) · cites this paper as [73]
In the citing paper
“To assess metacognitive bias, the present study employed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Frederick, 2005), a measure of reflective reasoning and the ability to override intuitive, automatic responses.”
From “ ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.” Epistemic beliefs and metacognitive accuracy in students' integration of ChatGPT content into academic writing (2025) · cites this paper as Frederick, 2005
In the citing paper
“we also included the following measures as covariates, which research has shown are associated with susceptibility to misinformation:”
From Psychological inoculation improves resilience against misinformation on social media (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“Frederick (2005) found that large numbers of highly select university students at MIT, Princeton, and Harvard were cognitive misers; they responded that the cost was 10 cents, rather than the correct answer... 5 cents.”
From The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks (2011) · cites this paper as Frederick, 2005
In the citing paper
“The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT;Frederick, 2005) is designed to measure the tendency to override a prepotent response alternative that is incorrect and to engage in further reflection that leads to the correct response.”
From The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks (2011) · cites this paper as Frederick, 2005
In the citing paper
“Frederick (2005) observed that with as few as three items, his CRT could predict performance on measures of temporal discounting, the tendency to choose high-expected-value gambles, and framing effects.”
From The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks (2011) · cites this paper as Frederick, 2005
In the citing paper
“Frederick (2005) reported a correlation of .44 between CRT performance and SAT total scores, as well as a .43correlation between CRT scores and performance on the Wonderlic IQ test.”
From The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks (2011) · cites this paper as Frederick, 2005
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Metadata
- Authors
- Frederick, S.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Frederick, Shane
- ORCID
- Frederick, Shane
- Venue
- Journal of Economic Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Published
- 2005-11-01
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 25-42
- ISSN
- 0895-3309 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2161080627
- Cited by
- 5,256
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 317 · 2025: 394 · 2024: 420 · 2023: 455 · 2022: 415 · 2021: 459 · 2020: 392 · 2019: 380 · 2018: 309 · 2017: 320 · 2016: 266 · 2015: 287 · 2014: 195 · 2013: 176 · 2012: 136
- FWCI
- 22.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Economic Perspectives (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Finance › Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
- Keywords
- cognitive reflection, Cognitive Reflection Test, decision-making, expected utility theory, prospect theory, time preference, risk preferences, cognitive ability, sex differences, cognitive style
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