James P. Dunlea Department of Human Development, Cornell University
Abstract
• 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.
Hypotheses 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.
Beads Drawn on Hard Beads by Educational Track
Beads Drawn on Easy Beads by Education Track Number Mean Beads Drawn
Critical Thinking
Number Mean Beads Drawn
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
0 Undergraduate
Education
Graduate
Undergraduate
Post-Graduate
Graduate
Medical Track
Decision-Making
Medical Track
Law Track
5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Undergraduate
Graduate
Post-Graduate
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Undergraduate
Education Level
Graduate
Post-Graduate
Education Level
Sample
Medical Track
• 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”
Law Track
Medical Track
80
35
70
30
60
25 20 15 10 5
50 40 30 20 10
0
0 Graduate
Post-Graduate
Undergraduate
Graduate
Educational Track Medical Track
Measures 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
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.
Law Track
Percent Correct on Wendy Problem by Educational Track
Percent Correct on Wason Cards Task by Educational Track
Undergraduate
Critical Thinking Critical Reflection Task (CRT): measures need for cognitive reflection—how able one is to recognize the importance of delayed gratification Abridged Numeracy Task: measures statistical and basic mathematical reasoning The Linda Problem: a conjunction fallacy problem measuring rational judgment The Wason Card Task: measures deductive reasoning capabilities
Law Track
CRT Mean Composite Score by Educational Track
Mean Composite CRT Score
Mean Composite Numeracy Score
Abridged Numeracy Scale Mean Composite by Educational Track
Methodology
Post-Graduate
Education Level
Education Level
Percent Correct
Introduction
Results
Percent Correct
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 criticalthinking abilities. Specifically, physicians were found to underperform on certain critical-thinking measures when compared to other highlyeducated samples, such as lawyers.
The current study
Post-Graduate
Educational Track
Law Track
Medical Track
Law Track
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. References 1. 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.
Address correspondence to: James P. Dunlea Cornell University
[email protected]
