Thinking disposition education improves cognitive reflection: Experimental results from an intervention study

Abstract

Cognitive reflection is a construct measuring one's ability to disengage automatic or type I processing and instead activate effortful deliberation, described as type II processing in dual process theories. Successfully overriding intuitive responses is posited to rely on, in part, trait-like attributes known as thinking dispositions, though a causal link has not been established. The present research is the first randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of a novel thinking disposition intervention (TDI)—a 7-week educational curriculum—on cognitive reflection performance. In the present study, participants (N = 338) were randomized to either the TDI or a control condition. A Bayesian modeling approach suggests positive and moderate effects. Moreover, those in the treatment were over twice as likely to make CRT gains than those in the control group. Additional mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to test whether the TDI impacts CRT via thinking dispositions such as need for cognition and intellectual humility, and/or whether such attributes meaningfully interact with the intervention. Thinking dispositions do not appear to mediate this relationship, neither do they moderate the effect of the intervention. Implications for dual process theory are discussed.