Cognitive Ability and Support for Redistribution

Last registered on March 23, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Cognitive Ability and Support for Redistribution
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016619
Initial registration date
March 19, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 23, 2026, 7:50 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Martin Brun
Affiliation
Tampere University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-03-30
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
redistribution, attitudes to inequality, cognition, cognitive load, fairness
JEL code(s)
D91, D63, C91
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We test the causal effect of cognitive load on redistributive decisions. Subjects participate in several decision rounds, in which they are assigned a digit to remember, make a redistributive decision, and are asked to recall the digit. We employ a 2x1 between-subject design. Subjects are either assign to remember 6-digit number strings (e.g., 430890), or 1-digit number string (e.g., 4). Subjects act as third-party spectators and redistribute income between two other agents. Subjects face redistribution scenarios that differ in various characteristics, such as the source of the initial inequality and the merit of each agent. We explore whether our cognitive load intervention affects the decisions that subjects make, and how it impacts their decision-making process.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Brun, Martin. 2026. "Cognitive Ability and Support for Redistribution." AEA RCT Registry. March 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16619-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We induce cognitive load on participants by using digit recall.

Participants in the treatment group are assigned 6-digit numbers, while participants in the control group are assigned 1-digit numbers.
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-30
Intervention End Date
2026-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Redistribution decisions.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Participants make redistribution decisions under different scenarios. We focus on the redistribution decisions participants make. We exploit the differences in the characteristics of the scenarios (e.g., reason for initial inequality, agent's performance). We explore participant's sensitivity to merit, by analyzing decisions when the initial inequality is due to merit and due to luck and when participants are under different intensity of cognitive load. We also exploit the variation in merit due to performance differences.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Intervention effectivenes, Self-reported Measures about Decision-making process, Decision-making process.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Interventions effectiveness: Participants are incentivized to recall randomly generated numbers. We analyze the effectiveness in the number recall and its impact in math problem resolution.

Self-reported Measures about Decision-making process: Participants are asked to describe their decision procedure. We use self-reported measures to explore the decision-making process and conduct additional exploratory analysis by analyzing open-text responses.

Decision-making process: Participants make redistribution decisions under different scenarios. We exploit differences across scenarios to explore how participants incorporate the information into their decisions. We also use an additional set of rule-based redistribution decisions to explore differences with decisions under cognitive load.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We test the causal effect of cognitive load on redistributive decisions.

The experiment consists of three stages. The first stage is a cognitive ability test. The second stage consists of several rounds of redistribution decisions with cognitive load. The third stage is a survey on rationale about previous decisions, attitudes, and socio-demographic characteristics.

We randomly assign participants to different treatments in a 2x1 between-subject design. Treatments differ in cognitive load intensity. Participants in the treatment group are assigned 6-digit numbers, while participants in the control group are assigned 1-digit numbers.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 university students
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 university students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 university students in control group. 100 university students in treatment group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
George Mason University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2025-11-25
IRB Approval Number
STUDY00000900
Analysis Plan