Cognitive Reflection Test Identifying Cognitive Traps 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together, and the bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. What is the intuitive-but-wrong answer people give for the ball's price?
- 10 cents (Correct answer)
- 5 cents
- 15 cents
- 1 cent
Correct answer: 10 cents
The trap answer is 10 cents, but the correct answer is 5 cents because the bat would then be $1.05.
Question 2: The tendency to accept the first answer that feels right without checking it is best described as which cognitive trap?
- Anchoring bias
- Intuitive substitution (Correct answer)
- Confirmation bias
- Availability heuristic
Correct answer: Intuitive substitution
Intuitive substitution replaces a hard question with an easier one that feels correct.
Question 3: If a machine array of 100 machines makes 100 widgets in 100 minutes, how long for the same rate per machine to be understood correctly?
- 100 minutes (Correct answer)
- 1 minute
- 10 minutes
- 50 minutes
Correct answer: 100 minutes
Each machine still takes 100 minutes per widget, so 100 machines make 100 widgets in 100 minutes.
Question 4: Which mental state most reliably triggers cognitive traps on the Cognitive Reflection Test?
- Slow deliberate analysis
- Fast automatic intuition (Correct answer)
- Complete uncertainty
- Careful rechecking
Correct answer: Fast automatic intuition
Fast automatic (System 1) thinking produces the appealing wrong answers.
Question 5: A lily pad patch doubles in size daily and covers a lake in 48 days. The trap answer for half coverage is which day?
- 24 (Correct answer)
- 47
- 46
- 12
Correct answer: 24
People wrongly say 24 by halving 48, but the correct answer is day 47 because it doubles.
Question 6: Recognizing that your first gut answer might be wrong and pausing to verify is called what?
- Cognitive reflection (Correct answer)
- Cognitive dissonance
- Cognitive load
- Cognitive bias
Correct answer: Cognitive reflection
Cognitive reflection is overriding an intuitive response to reason more carefully.
Question 7: Why are CRT questions designed with a specific numeric wrong answer built in?
- To measure typing speed
- To lure intuition toward a plausible error (Correct answer)
- To test vocabulary
- To confuse randomly
Correct answer: To lure intuition toward a plausible error
Each item embeds an alluring wrong answer to detect whether intuition is overridden.
Cognitive Reflection Test Identifying Cognitive Traps 2
A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together, and the bat costs $1.00 more than the ball.
What is the intuitive-but-wrong answer people give for the ball's price?