Individual differences in decision processing and confidence judgments in comparative judgment tasks: The role of cognitive styles

We examined whether responses to three comparative judgment tasks conformed to a general- or a task-specific model of decision making and confidence. We sought to determine if individual differences in confidence and decision making were evident for these tasks, and if cognitive styles accounted for these individual differences. Undergraduate students completed cognitive styles measures in a mass-testing session, and they performed the computer-administered comparative judgment tasks in later experimental sessions. Confirmatory factor analyses of the confidence and decision making indices revealed that a general model of decision making best described the data in that stable individual differences in decision and confidence processing emerged across tasks. However, with the exceptions of a significant effect of Desire for Structure on response time and of Need for Cognition on accuracy, there were no significant effects of the cognitive styles on decision and confidence processing. Hence, although stable individual differences in comparative judgment were clearly evident, the specific basis for these differences remains elusive.