University Students' Cognitive Bias in the Context of Their Analytical Thinking Skills: A Reliability and Validity Study

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a reliable and valid scale to reveal the cognitive biases of university students in context of analytical thinking skills. During scale development process, firstly, a 5-point Likert type scale pre-trial form consisting of 60 items was created. The pre-trial form was applied to 450 students in Afyon Kocatepe University. Both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used. According to analyzes, the scale consists of 5 sub-dimensions and 25 items. In the exploratory factor analysis, it was seen that the items had a factor load of .55 to .81. It was determined as 51.818% of the variance value determined for the whole scale. CFA result χ²=614; RMSEA=0.0540; SRMR=0.0540; CFI=0.885 and TLI=0.870 has reached acceptable compliance values with. Cronbach's alpha was calculated as 0.76. Approximately 30 days after developing the scale, test-retest reliability analysis was performed with 40 participants (r=0.869;p<.05). The findings show that a valid and reliable measurement tool has emerged. The scale was named as “The Scale of Cognitive Bias in the Context of Analytical Thinking Skills”.