Examining broad intellectual abilities obtained within an mTurk internet sample

Widely used in social science research, samples of participants obtained via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (mTurk) tend to be representative across many sociodemographic variables. However, to date, no research has investigated and reported the global cognitive ability level (i.e., intelligence) of samples obtained via mTurk. The present study contributes to the literature by investigating a previously well-validated, public domain measure of cognitive ability in a sample of American adults recruited via mTurk. As part of a larger cross-sectional, survey-based study, four hundred thirty-four (434) Americans (M age = 37.86; 35.7% men) completed a demographic questionnaire and the 16-item International Cognitive Ability Resource, Sample Test (ICAR-16). Results revealed a normal distribution of ICAR-16 scores across the current sample. Additionally, total scores were positively correlated with participants' level of education, income, and self-estimated intelligence, but did not significantly correlate with participant age. No gender differences were identified on ICAR-16 total scores. Finally, ICAR-16 scores did not significantly differ from normative data derived from its validation study. These results suggested that American mTurk samples may be representative of the broader population in terms of global cognitive ability, and that the ICAR-16 is likely a reasonable, psychometrically sound, and inexpensive measure of global cognitive ability appropriate for use in mTurk samples.

Automated summary

This study investigated the cognitive ability level of samples obtained via mTurk and found that they may represent the broader population in terms of global cognitive ability. The study also validated the ICAR-16 as a reasonable, psychometrically sound, and inexpensive measure of global cognitive ability appropriate for use in mTurk samples.