AI Cognitive Offloading
Information SystemsReliability: alpha 0.853 sample items
About this scale
A multi-item measure of the extent to which users offload cognitive work to AI tools — calculations, recall, reasoning, decision-making. Tied to the extended-mind hypothesis.
Sample item(s)
“I let AI do the thinking for me whenever I can”
“I use AI to remember things I would otherwise need to learn”
“When I need to make a decision, I often ask AI first”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.85. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Conceptual basis; modern AI-specific items adapt this framework.
Source & citation
Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016): Cognitive offloading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 20, No. 9, pp. 676–688.
Risko & Gilbert (2016): Cognitive offloading. TiCS, 20(9), 676–688.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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