The impact of Socratic Cognitive Assistants on students’ intrinsic motivation towards critical thinking and rational decision making

Abstract

This study examines the impact of Socratic Cognitive Assistants (SCAs) on students' intrinsic motivation towards applying critical thinking and rational decision-making. SCAs are software programs that use Socratic questioning to stimulate critical thinking and help learners develop better decision-making skills. The study hypothesizes that the use of SCAs will lead to increased intrinsic motivation towards critical thinking and rational decision-making among students. An additional variable, individuals’ Locus of Control (LOC), has been considered in the designing of this research. We predict a positive correlation between one’s LOC and their critical thinking ability, as well as their intrinsic motivation. To assess this hypothesis, an experimental design for a pre-test and post-test has been developed. An uncontrolled virtual assignment and questionnaire have been voluntarily presented to randomly assigned students, with a final sample of 29 participants. The virtual assignment consists of the LOC inventory, intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI), presented pre and post experimentally, and an interactive conversation with CA Liza. The results of the study contradicted the study’s main hypothesis. In general participant’s motivation decreased after the intervention. Further analyses show age to be a significant predictor for the level of critical thinking skills, with younger ages associated with higher scores on the critical thinking task. The score of critical thinking skills appears to be a significant predictor for pre- and post-experimental motivational changes; namely, higher critical thinking scores are associated with smaller decrease in motivation after the intervention. These research findings might be an indicator of the efficiency of Socratic CA on revealing biases in critical thinking and rational decision-making, which subsequently lead to a decrease in one’s intrinsic motivation. It is also possible that Liza is generally not an effective tool for enhancing students’ intrinsic motivation. Nevertheless, other findings from this research study demonstrate the potential for positive effects on IMI. For example, young participants show higher interest and enjoyment, as well as higher intrinsic motivation scores compared to older participants. This finding justifies further research in this field and shows the potential for early intervention on associated skills to increase the likelihood for success in academic and professional contexts.