Dual-Process Theory of Reasoning
Also known as: System 1 and System 2 · Cognitive reflection paradigm · CRT framework
Framework describing reasoning as the interaction of two modes: a fast, automatic process that proposes an answer, and a slow, deliberate process that either checks the proposal or waves it through. Frederick (2005) made the second one measurable with problems engineered so that the intuitive answer is confidently wrong, so a correct response requires noticing the pull, distrusting it and verifying. The disposition this measures, cognitive reflection, correlates with cognitive ability without being it: the items demand almost no arithmetic and no knowledge, and errors cluster on the planted answer rather than spreading at random. The paradigm's own central threat to validity is prior exposure — the classic items became so famous that by 2016 roughly half of online respondents had already seen them.
- Source:
- Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4), 25-42. Toplak, M. E., West, R. F., & Stanovich, K. E. (2014). Assessing miserly information processing: An expansion of the Cognitive Reflection Test. Thinking & Reasoning, 20(2), 147-168.
Constructs
Cognitive Reflection
The disposition to notice an intuitive answer, distrust it, and check it before committing (Frederick, 2005). It is measured with problems engineered so that the wrong answer feels finished, which is why the arithmetic is deliberately light: the difficulty sits in suppressing the first response, not in producing it. The construct correlates with measures of cognitive ability without being one — it is a habit of verification, and the ordinary human result is that the planted answer usually wins.
Instruments
- NOESIS Cognitive Reflection ScaleNOESIS2026