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Reasoning Through the Application of Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence in a Causal Inference Task

Matuzevicius, Martynas LU (2023) PSYP01 20231
Department of Psychology
Abstract
The aim of the study was to find out how well individuals perform when solving hypothetical causally related problems, and further understand what intelligence factors interact with this. This was done via a survey that consisted of hypothetical, linear relation, causal scenarios. Two experiments were conducted to ensure that no validity issues confounded the results. Experiment 1 consisted of 77 participants who performed unexpectedly well across all conditions. This may have been due to a later identified heuristic simplifying the level of reasoning required, hence Experiment 2 was conducted. Only 19 participants were used for the follow up experiment, thus may need to be further replicated with a larger sample size. The results however... (More)
The aim of the study was to find out how well individuals perform when solving hypothetical causally related problems, and further understand what intelligence factors interact with this. This was done via a survey that consisted of hypothetical, linear relation, causal scenarios. Two experiments were conducted to ensure that no validity issues confounded the results. Experiment 1 consisted of 77 participants who performed unexpectedly well across all conditions. This may have been due to a later identified heuristic simplifying the level of reasoning required, hence Experiment 2 was conducted. Only 19 participants were used for the follow up experiment, thus may need to be further replicated with a larger sample size. The results however have shown that negative-negative-negative condition was the most challenging among the others presented, resulting in the lowest overall mean (M = 0.8). Causal reasoning in the context of this study shows that most individuals are able to correctly infer the relationship A to C when B is an intermediate cause, and A to D when B and C are intermediate causes. Future studies should focus on validity concerns and explore more controlled conditions for the current paradigm. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Matuzevicius, Martynas LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYP01 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
causal reasoning, inference, crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence, heuristic
language
English
id
9139843
date added to LUP
2023-10-11 08:35:30
date last changed
2023-10-11 08:35:30
@misc{9139843,
  abstract     = {{The aim of the study was to find out how well individuals perform when solving hypothetical causally related problems, and further understand what intelligence factors interact with this. This was done via a survey that consisted of hypothetical, linear relation, causal scenarios. Two experiments were conducted to ensure that no validity issues confounded the results. Experiment 1 consisted of 77 participants who performed unexpectedly well across all conditions. This may have been due to a later identified heuristic simplifying the level of reasoning required, hence Experiment 2 was conducted. Only 19 participants were used for the follow up experiment, thus may need to be further replicated with a larger sample size. The results however have shown that negative-negative-negative condition was the most challenging among the others presented, resulting in the lowest overall mean (M = 0.8). Causal reasoning in the context of this study shows that most individuals are able to correctly infer the relationship A to C when B is an intermediate cause, and A to D when B and C are intermediate causes. Future studies should focus on validity concerns and explore more controlled conditions for the current paradigm.}},
  author       = {{Matuzevicius, Martynas}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Reasoning Through the Application of Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence in a Causal Inference Task}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}