Individual Differences in Rational Thinking Time

Individual difference studies suggest that reasoners highest in cognitive capacity favor analytic, normative responses over fallacious, heuristic responses. The present study complemented reasoning accuracy with timing data to obtain an indication of the nature of the reasoning process underlying the response selection. A total of 199 participants were presented with a measure of working memory capacity and a syllogistic reasoning task. As predicted, higher spans were not only more likely to draw a correct conclusion but also reasoned longer when believability and logical status of the conclusion conflicted. Working memory capacity did not predict reasoning accuracy or time when believability and logic were consistent. Findings validate basic processing assumptions of a dual process framework of thinking.