| dc.description.abstract | For nearly 150 years, psychological research and theory has documented a link between general intelligence and decision making performance. This suggests that individual differences in decision making (and other life outcomes – e.g., health, wealth, and happiness) may primary follow from individual differences in heritable and relatively stable general cognitive capacities (e.g., fluid intelligence). However, over the past 40 years there have been great developments in decision making measurement and theory. These developments allow for more precise and comprehensive assessments of essential judgment and decision making tasks, which have traditionally been neglected in general intelligence research. Recent research further indicates that the influence of statistical numeracy (i.e., practical probabilistic math skills) on decision making skill tends to be far greater than that of fluid intelligence or other general cognitive abilities (Cokely et al., 2012; Ghazal, 2014). Here we report results from one of the most comprehensive studies of cognitive abilities and decision making skill, including data from 300 participants who completed a five hour assessment battery. Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, we present a new model of general decision making skill where numeracy mediates the relationship between intelligence and decision making skill. Discussion focuses on implications for a refined factor structure of human cognitive abilities and related applications (e.g., adaptive training, risk communications). | en_US |
