These questions have an obvious wrong answer that jumps to mind — and a correct answer that requires a moment of reflection. Average score: 1.5/7. Think carefully!
The CRT was developed by Shane Frederick (2005) and measures "System 2" analytical thinking — your ability to override the fast, automatic "System 1" gut response. High scorers tend to be more analytical, less prone to cognitive biases, and better at probabilistic reasoning.
Average CRT score across populations is ~1.5/3 on the original 3-item version. This extended 7-item version is harder. Compare with the Mini IQ Test and Pattern Recognition.
The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), developed by Shane Frederick (2005), is one of the most influential instruments in behavioral economics and cognitive psychology. It measures the tendency to override an intuitive but wrong answer with a deliberative correct one. The test exploits a fundamental property of human cognition described by Daniel Kahneman: we have a fast, automatic "System 1" that generates quick impressions and a slower, effortful "System 2" that checks and revises them. CRT questions are designed so that System 1 reliably produces a plausible-but-wrong answer that System 2 must override.
The average score on the original 3-item CRT across large population samples is approximately 1.5/3 — meaning most people get fewer than half the questions right even though each is solvable with simple arithmetic. Our extended 7-item version incorporates additional lateral thinking and mathematical insight questions, raising the ceiling for high scorers. Scores of 6–7/7 are exceptional and genuinely rare.
High CRT scorers are measurably less susceptible to a wide range of cognitive biases: they show reduced conjunction fallacy, base rate neglect, anchoring bias, and loss aversion. They make better probabilistic judgments, perform better on standardized reasoning tests, and show greater resistance to misleading framing effects in decision-making. CRT is a surprisingly powerful predictor of real-world decision quality — often stronger than IQ alone.
Critically, CRT measures disposition to engage System 2 — not just ability. Some high-IQ individuals score poorly because they trust their System 1 answer without checking. The test is as much about cognitive style (reflective vs intuitive) as it is about raw reasoning ability. Pair it with Mini IQ to see whether your reasoning ability and reasoning style are aligned.