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Cognitive Ability and Perceived Disagreement in Learning
   

Cognitive Ability and Perceived Disagreement in Learning

Piotr Evdokimov Umberto Garfagnini
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, Vol.In Press(In Press)
24/02/2026
Cognitive ability Disagreement Learning

Do agents believe they agree more with others over time? This paper explores how individuals perceive the belief updating behavior of others and the resulting disagreement in a sequential experiment with public information. We uncover a persistent gap in the perception of disagreement as a function of cognitive ability. Higher cognitive ability correlates with less perceived disagreement, although the average subject underestimates the extent of actual disagreement. Information about a partner's cognitive ability only impacts perceived disagreement when the partner has a low test score. Our findings highlight the roles of overconfidence and cognitive projection in shaping these perceptions.

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Garfagnini_AEJMicro_paper870.04 kB
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Garfagnini_AEJMicro_OnlineAppendix1.67 MB
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https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/mic
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