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John Nofsinger is an associate professor of finance at Washington State University and a speaker, writer, and scholar on behavioral finance. See full bio

July 3, 2008, Behavioral Economics

Analytical/Intuitive Thinking: PART I, Determine Your Thinking Process

Take the analytical/inutuitive thinking quiz!

Thinking In 2002, Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics. That was quite remarkable because he is a psychologist. In his acceptance speech in Stockholm, Sweden, he talked about people relying on reasoning out answers or intuitively knowing answers.

Shane Fredericks designed a short quiz to try to identify a person's thinking mode between analytical and intuitive processes. To determine your thinking mode, take his Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). Quickly jot down your answers to these three questions:

1) If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? _______ minutes

2) In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Everyday, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half the lake? _________ days

3) A bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? _________ cents

Now go to the PART II posting for the analytical and intuitive answers.

(See Shane Frederick, 2005, "Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4), pages 25-42 and Daniel Kahneman, 2003, "Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economists," American Economic Review, 93(5), pages 1449-1475.)