ESPLAT 2025 conference: Scientific thinking in challenging times

Critical thinking is considered an essential skill for students to be able to make important decisions for the future (Abrami et al., 2015). In the context of the construct “psychological literacy”, both critical thinking and need for cognition are addressed (e.g. Halpern & Butler, 2011; Hulme, 2014). By learning psychological content, it is assumed that psychology students have higher critical thinking skills and are characterized by an increased need for cognition. To date, however, there have been hardly any empirical studies dedicated to this topic. A first study by Wirthwein et al. (2022) found initial hints of higher critical thinking skills in psychology students compared to students without psychology lessons (Wirthwein et al., 2022).

We examined n = 321 students with and n = 216 without psychology lessons from several grammar and comprehensive schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in grades 10 to 13 (average age: M = 16.66; SD = .93; 63% female). Critical thinking was measured using a scale by Sosu (2013) and need for cognition by using the scale by Cacioppo et al. (1984). Personality, gender, age, grade level, type of school and previous duration of psychology lessons were surveyed as possible control variables.

Missing values were estimated using the FIML algorithm. Confirmatory multi-group factor analyses were carried out to check the measurement invariance of the scales. Mean differences between students with and without psychology lessons were calculated using multi- and univariate analyses of covariance.

Students with psychology lessons reported a significantly higher need for cognition than non-psychology students, even when controlling for relevant covariates. However, there were no significant differences with regard to critical thinking. The results are discussed critically regarding the design of the study and also with regard to open research questions.