Essay On Cognitive Reflection

Cognitive reflection and its relevance for personal and managerial decision-making

The importance of cognitive reflection on both a personal and managerial level has grown in relevance in recent times linked to new concerns surrounding its direct effect on the way in which decisions are made. This essay aims to offer a clear overview of cognitive reflection, the test itself, how it provides one way of measuring cognitive ability and indicate why a well known and developed understanding of it is vital when considering the decision making process in practice. Further I will look to critically analyze the associated benefits and shortcomings of cognitive reflection, coming to a justified conclusion drawing on relevant theories and research.

Frederick (2005) has defined cognitive reflection as the “the ability or disposition to resist reporting the response that first comes to mind” and to provoke interest in the somewhat neglected interest in this topic Frederick introduced the ‘Cognitive Reflection Test’ as a simple measure of one type of cognitive ability that provides knowledge surrounding the types of choices that feature prominently in tests of decision making theories. The test is a simple; three item experiment to measure a person’s mode of reasoning. The questions are designed such that they have an intuitive but wrong answer that comes to mind quickly and a correct answer that is easy to understand when explained. Hence it measures a person’s ability to engage in cognitive reflection. The CRT’s relevance can be portrayed in that it has recently been used to assess the decision-making processes of professional groups such as judges and financial planners (Guthrie et al 2007).
There are two systems of thinking linked the...

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...ide an effective overview of some of the key considerations within this topic and further created the opportunity for me to input some of my own ideas for future use. I believe for example that what has been shown most significantly is the importance of the ‘environment’ in determining how we think; as with the current fast moving world of work and living, often the demand for quick decision making makes reflection more difficult, with people being more likely to make suboptimal decisions utilizing previous experience and intuition. Further is the crucial idea that reflection heavily depends on the ‘type’ of individual; with some having a more numerical ability that facilitates reflection or some being more ‘open-minded’ in their way of thinking (Baron 1985) that means they are likely to consider a broader spectrum of new possibilities, resulting in good decisions.