Cognitive Reflection Test Overriding Intuitive Errors 3

Question 1

If 5 printers take 5 seconds to print 5 pages, how long do 100 printers take to print 100 pages?

Accepted Answer

5 seconds

Answer

Each printer prints one page in 5 seconds, so equal numbers of printers and pages take 5 seconds.

Question 2

A lily patch doubles in size each day and fills a lake in 48 days. When is the lake one-quarter covered?

Accepted Answer

Day 46

Answer

Half coverage is day 47, so quarter coverage is two doublings back on day 46.

Question 3

A shirt and a tie cost $22 in total, and the shirt costs $20 more than the tie. What is the tie's price?

Accepted Answer

$1

Answer

The tie is $1 and the shirt is $21, giving a $20 gap and $22 total.

Question 4

What is the best strategy for overriding an intuitive CRT error?

Accepted Answer

Pause and check whether the first answer actually satisfies all conditions

Answer

Deliberately verifying the tempting answer against the problem's constraints catches the error.

Question 5

The tempting wrong answers on CRT items are examples of what kind of thinking bias?

Accepted Answer

Attribute substitution, answering an easier question than asked

Answer

People substitute a simpler computation for the real one, producing the intuitive error.

Cognitive Reflection Test Practice Test