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The present study investigated how individuals of different occupations/educational levels critically think and make decisions. Additionally, critical thinking ability and decision-making preferences within educational groups were investigated. This was done by sampling undergraduates, graduate students, and post-graduates in both medical and legal fields. Members of the general population were also surveyed. After giving consent to partake in the study, subjects completed a battery of six cognitive tests gauging critical thinking and decision making preferences. Results indicated that individuals of different occupations differed in terms of critical-thinking abilities. Specifically, physicians were found to underperform on certain critical-thinking measures when compared to other highly-educated samples, such as lawyers.
James P. DunleaDepartment of Human Development, Cornell University
Abstract
1. Both physicians and lawyers will outperform members of the general population on critical thinking and numeracy measures
2. Physicians and members of the general population will show a stronger tendency to make decisions based upon limited or ambiguous information than lawyers.
Introduction
Hypotheses
• It has been well-documented that college students across multiple universities possess different cognitive profiles. Specifically, distinct differences in cognitive reflection abilities among undergraduate college students at a wide range of American universities have been reported1.
• Other researchers have reported cognitive differences among members of different occupations2. For example, it was reported that teachers had significantly better memory than medical professionals.
• Combining the results of the previous studies, I believe that there will also be differences in critical thinking and decision-making preference among individuals of different occupational and educational backgrounds.
• Given this research, differences may exist in how physicians critically think and make decisions compared to members of the general population and to members of other highly educated samples.
MethodologySample• 734 participants recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk,
Cornell’s SONA, and snowball sampling method• Ages 18-78 years (M = 30, SD = 14); 38.3% male, 47.1%
college graduates, 69.6% Caucasian, 15.8% Asian/Pacific Islander, 5% African American, 4% Hispanic, and 4.9% “other”
Measures
Procedure• Participants provided consent and then completed several
measures• Participants were asked to provide demographic information
regarding their ethnicity, gender, age, highest level of completed education, number of STEM courses taken, and income.
Results
Address correspondence to:James P. Dunlea
Cornell University [email protected]
Discussion• Results indicate critical-thinking differences exist both within
and across fields • Physicians often underperformed on critical-thinking tasks
compared to other highly-educated occupations• Physicians are indistinguishable from members of general
population on some critical-thinking measures • Decrease in critical-thinking ability seen in physician population
after graduate school• Results indicate indistinguishable decision-making preferences
between groups• Future research should investigate why critical thinking decline
happens in physicians. Additionally, education-based interventions that can combat this cognitive decline should be researched, developed, and implemented in post-medical school training curriculum.
The current study
References1. Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19, 25 – 42. doi:
10.1257/089533005775196732
2. Loftus, E.F., Levidow, B., & Duensing, S. (1992). Who remembers best? Individual differences in memory for events that occurred in a science museum. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 6, 93 – 107.
Critical Thinking Critical Reflection Task (CRT): measures need for cognitive reflection—how able one is to recognize the importance of delayed gratificationAbridged Numeracy Task: measures statistical and basic mathematical reasoningThe Linda Problem: a conjunction fallacy problem measuring rational judgmentThe Wason Card Task: measures deductive reasoning capabilities
Education
Critical Thinking
Decision-Making
Decision-Making Beads Task: measures willingness to jump to conclusions with varying degrees of information to make decision; two versions were administered, “easy”(Fig. 1) and “hard” versions (Fig. 2).
1.Easy Version
2.Hard Version
0
1
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Undergraduate Graduate Post-Graduate
NumberMeanBeadsD
rawn
Education Level
BeadsDrawnonEasyBeadsbyEducationTrack
MedicalTrack LawTrack
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Undergraduate Graduate Post-Graduate
NumberMeanBeadsD
rawn
Education Level
BeadsDrawnonHardBeadsbyEducationalTrack
MedicalTrack LawTrack
00.51
1.52
2.53
3.54
4.55
Undergraduate Graduate Post-Graduate
MeanCompositeNu
meracyScore
Education Level
AbridgedNumeracyScaleMeanComposite byEducationalTrack
MedicalTrack LawTrack
0
0.5
1
1.5
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2.5
3
Undergraduate Graduate Post-Graduate
MeanCompositeCRTScore
Education Level
CRTMeanComposite ScorebyEducationalTrack
MedicalTrack LawTrack
0
5
10
15
20
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30
35
Undergraduate Graduate Post-Graduate
PercentCorre
ct
Educational Track
PercentCorrectonWason CardsTaskbyEducationalTrack
MedicalTrack LawTrack
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Undergraduate Graduate Post-Graduate
PercentCorre
ct
Educational Track
PercentCorrectonWendyProblembyEducationalTrack
MedicalTrack LawTrack
