Cognitive Reflection Test Identifying Cognitive Traps 2

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?

Accepted Answer

10 cents

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Intuitive substitution

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

100 minutes

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Fast automatic intuition

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

24

Answer

People wrongly say 24 by halving 48, but the correct answer is day 47 because it doubles.

Cognitive Reflection Test Practice Test

Cognitive Reflection Test Practice Test

Cognitive Reflection Test Identifying Cognitive Traps 2