About the RCI

What is the RCI?

The RCI is a measure of Reflective Judgment; it focuses on the capacity to recognize and endorse statements that reflect the attributes of reflective thinking as defined by the Reflective Judgment Model. The questionnaire is designed to assess how respondents think about a few current issues, as a reflection of their assumptions about knowledge and the certainty with which knowledge claims can be made. The RCI is not a test of their factual knowledge about the current topics, their individual abilities, or their mastery of content of particular classes they may have taken. The instrument should not be viewed as an 'objectively scorable' version of the Reflective Judgment Interview. Rather, it taps into related skills (most specifically, those of recognition, rather than production). Each makes different demands on the respondent and illuminates different aspects of the individual's capacity to make reflective judgments. Nevertheless, the RCI is based on research using the RJI, is grounded in the same theoretical framework, and provides a promising tool for assessing the Reflective Judgment Model (King & Kitchener, 1994).

How is the RCI structured?

The RCI consists of a series of three ill-structured problems that span a range of controversial topics. Respondents are asked to read ten statements for each problem that reflect different levels of reasoning in the RJ model. Participants are asked to rate the statements in terms of how closely the statements resemble their own thinking on the problem using a four-point scale. In addition to this scale, a fifth response, "meaningless," may be selected by respondents to indicate that they think the statement is not interpretable. Meaningless statements containing complex vocabulary are included to control for the possibility that respondents may endorse statements based on the vocabulary or evident sophistication of the item rather than on the idea being expressed. Instructions for the instrument inform respondents that such items are included and that they are to mark these statements as "meaningless" when assigning a rating.

How is the RCI scored?

Respondents then rank order the three statements that most closely reflect their own thinking. The rankings are the unit of analysis used to calculate the respondent's score, and they are weighted so that the statement ranked first is given the most weight, the statement rated second is given the next highest weighting, etc. The RCI score reflects the level of reasoning most often ranked by the respondent as most similar to his/her thinking. Scores can range from 2 to 7, corresponding to stages 2-7 on the Reflective Judgment model.

Sample dilemma topics

The range of topics on the RCI are intended to address general issues in society that are familiar to most respondents.

1. Artificial Sweeteners: People often have to make decisions that may affect their health such as deciding whether to eat foods or drink beverages that contain artificial sweeteners. There have been conflicting reports about the safety of these additives. For example, some studies have indicated that even in small amounts, artificial sweeteners (such as Nutrasweet) can cause health problems, making foods containing them unsafe to eat. Other studies, however, have indicated that even in large amounts artificial sweeteners do not cause health problems, and that the foods containing them are safe to eat.

2. Federal Government Debt: There has been considerable debate over the current size of the federal debt. Some economists and government officials claim that a large federal debt is damaging the economy. Others argue that the economy cannot be improved by reducing the federal debt.

3. Global Warming: Some scientists claim that the world is warming and base their claims on meteorological data compiled over the past century. Others say that factors such as changes in thermometer design and the growth of “urban heat islands” may bias the data and so create a spurious warming trend.