New psychology research indicates a simple cognitive test can predict Twitter behavior

People who share fake news and other questionable content on Twitter tend to display a cognitive style that is characterized by relying on their gut instincts, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. The findings provide evidence that a person’s level of cognitive reflection is related to their online behaviors.“I have an interdisciplinary background at the intersection of cognitive science and data science. This work is part of my broader area of research where I look at how the way our thinking styles relate to the way we act online on social media,” said study author Mohsen Mosleh (@_mohsen_m), an assistant professor at the University of Exeter Business School and research affiliate at the MIT Sloan School of Management.The researchers used the online Prolific platform to recruit 1,901 regular Twitter users. The participants completed a Cognitive Reflection Test, which contains questions that tend to generate quick and intuitive — but incorrect — answers. Those who take more time to reflect on the questions tend to perform better on the test.For example, participants were asked “If you are running a race and you pass the person in second place, what place are you in?” The answer that intuitively comes…
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