scholarly journals Do Underlying Risk Preferences explain Individuals’ Cognitive Ability?⁕ Evidence from a Sample of Pakistani Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-122
Author(s):  
Mariam Raheem ◽  
Ain ul Momina

Emerging research in empirical economics posits a question on the relation between underlying risk preferences and reflective cognitive ability. In an experimental setting, a preliminary sample of 260 participants undergo a series of incentivized choice experiments to elicit risk preferences and a Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to obtain estimates of their reflective ability. We sidestep potential biases by using a Fechner error specification along with a contextualized version of the utility function. Individuals who are more likely to avoid risky outcomes have significantly lower scores on the CRT. The analysis validates a prominent relationship spanning the economics and psychology literature and suggests a potential direction of causal inference for future research.

Games ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Seier

Can differences in cognitive reflection explain other-regarding behavior? To test this, I use the three-item Cognitive Reflection Task to classify individuals as intuitive or reflective and correlate this measure with choices in three games that each subject participates in. The main sample consists of 236 individuals who completed the dictator game, ultimatum game and a third-party punishment task. Subjects afterwards completed the three-item Cognitive Reflection Test. Results showed that intuitive individuals acted more prosocially in all social dilemma tasks. These individuals were more likely to serve as a norm enforcer and third-party punish a selfish act in the dictator game. Reflective individuals were found more likely to act consistently in a self-interested manner across the three games.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422199674
Author(s):  
Stefania Bortolotti ◽  
Thomas Dohmen ◽  
Hartmut Lehmann ◽  
Frauke Meyer ◽  
Norberto Pignatti ◽  
...  

This study sheds light on the relationship between cognition and patience by documenting that the correlation between cognitive abilities and delay discounting is weaker for the same group of individuals if choices are incentivized. This study conjectures that higher cognitive effort, which induces higher involvement of the cognitive system, moderates the relationship between patience and cognition. For 107 participants drawn from the adult population in Tbilisi, this study examines the relationship between various measures of cognitive ability and that of patience. Specifically, we consider the relationship between the Cognitive Reflection Test, a numeracy test, self-reported math ability measure, enumerators’ assessments, and incentivized and hypothetical trade-offs between smaller-sooner and larger-later payments.


Author(s):  
Ayşegül Engin

AbstractThe cognitive reflection test (hereafter, CRT) is a widely used tool in studies that deal with human decision-making and problem-solving. However, the interpretation of the results of the test remains an open discussion in extant literature. Despite the high predictive power, the characteristics of a decision-maker measured by the CRT remain unclear. This article suggests a novel and inclusive framework that relates the CRT to the cognitive experiential theory (hereafter, CET), which is a well-established dual-process theory. The framework explains the observed phenomena (e.g., individual decision-maker differences) using data from five laboratory experiments. The framework is inclusive because it provides possible explanations for the results in the published literature. The overall results support the argument that the CRT measures the efficiency of the resources of an individual’s working memory. In contrast, the rationality experientiality inventory (hereafter, REI) (a measurement tool of the cognitive experiential theory) captures an individual’s cognitive ability. The efficient use of the working memory leads to the full potential of decision-makers’ cognitive abilities in analytical tasks, thereby indicating that cognitive ability and working memory form a viable framework for studies in the disciplines behavioral operational research (hereafter, OR) and decision sciences.


2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Frederick

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Agnew ◽  
Neil Harrison

The aim of this research is to provide a further examination of the role gender plays as an influence on risk preferences. A combination of ordinary least squares (OLS) and logit regressions were carried out on data collected from 425 university students, including demographic and personality variables, along with GPA’s and CRT scores. This study found females reported lower levels of willingness to take risks than males. In an addition to the current literature, it was found that females also achieved lower scores on a cognitive reflection test (CRT). When separated by major, the gender gap was found to be the lowest for engineering and science students. None of CRT score, Maths GPA, or overall GPA were found to be correlated with risk willingness, suggesting societal conditioning as a possible cause of females being more risk averse than males. Personality variables along with gender were found to be correlated with willingness to take risk. These findings have implications for creating greater awareness of how females’ different risk preferences are generated and managed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 56-67
Author(s):  
Laura-Augustina Avram

Abstract Intelligence is the traditional element of interest when measuring the human cognitive abilities. However, intelligence is complex and researchers are constantly finding new angles of looking at it. One such angle is reflective reasoning. Sometimes individuals choose to override the intuitive answer and by engaging in further reflection they reach the correct answer. The cognitive reflection test (CRT) measures a person’s ability to suppress their incorrect intuitive answer in favor of reflection that should then lead to the correct response. The test contains three short mathematically based problems, which measure, among others, cognitive ability, mathematical abilities and cognitive reflection. Using a sample of 195 students from a state university, one of the largest universities in Romania, we explore the extent to which a variety of phenomena and trends identified by previous findings on CRT show similar results on our sample.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Białek ◽  
Przemysław Sawicki

Abstract. In this work, we investigated individual differences in cognitive reflection effects on delay discounting – a preference for smaller sooner over larger later payoff. People are claimed to prefer more these alternatives they considered first – so-called reference point – over the alternatives they considered later. Cognitive reflection affects the way individuals process information, with less reflective individuals relying predominantly on the first information they consider, thus, being more susceptible to reference points as compared to more reflective individuals. In Experiment 1, we confirmed that individuals who scored high on the Cognitive Reflection Test discount less strongly than less reflective individuals, but we also show that such individuals are less susceptible to imposed reference points. Experiment 2 replicated these findings additionally providing evidence that cognitive reflection predicts discounting strength and (in)dependency to reference points over and above individual difference in numeracy.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kilian James Garvey ◽  
Laura Folse ◽  
Crystal Curry

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