Task-Specific Cognitive Flexibility

What it measures

Twelve items assess three components of cognitive flexibility — awareness of available options, willingness to behave flexibly, and perceived self-efficacy — as they applied to a specific task a participant recently engaged in. Herd and Mehta (2019) modified the trait-based cognitive flexibility scale by Martin and Rubin (1995), rephrasing items to focus on a recalled task rather than general tendencies. The scale was used in Experiments 3, 4, and 5.

Response format

6-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 6=strongly agree; from Martin & Rubin 1995; format used by Herd & Mehta not stated)

Scale items

• if you asked me to communicate an idea, I would have been able to do it in many different ways.
• if I was faced with a new and an unusual situation, I would have tried to avoid it. (r)
• I felt like I never get to make decisions. (r)
• if you gave me seemingly unsolvable problem, I think I would have been able to find a workable solution.
• I thought that I seldom have choices when deciding how to behave. (r)
• I was very willing to work at creative solutions to problems.
• if I was in any situation, I think, I will able to act appropriately.
• I could have said that my behavior is a result of conscious decisions that I make.
• if I was in any given situation, I would have many possible ways of behaving.
• I would have had a difficulty using my knowledge on a given topic in a real-life situation. (r)
• I would have been willing to listen and consider alternatives for handling a problem.
• I felt like I have the self-confidence necessary to try different ways of behaving.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Items 2, 3, 5, and 10 are reverse-scored. Response format was not reported by Herd and Mehta; the 6-point Likert format is from the original Martin and Rubin (1995) scale. The original scale was designed as a three-component measure, raising unidimensionality concerns that were not addressed in either the original or the adapted version — researchers should test factor structure before using in theory testing. A brief task description should be placed in the instruction blank.

Citation

Herd, K. B., & Mehta, R. (2019). Head versus heart: The effect of objective versus feelings-based mental imagery on new product creativity. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(1), 36–52.

Keywords