Liberal Arts AI Use Questionnaire

Abstract

This instrument constitutes Part 2 (AI Use Module) of the Liberal Arts Study 1 protocol, designed to assess participants' patterns of AI tool reliance and cognitive dependence in academic contexts. The questionnaire presents a single, continuous 10-item scale administered immediately following the MAI questionnaire and prior to the verbal-ability check, adding approximately 3–5 minutes to Session 1. Although grouped by construct in the underlying item bank, items are shuffled during administration to reduce demand characteristics and minimize response bias, with construct labels withheld from participants and reserved solely for the researcher-facing scoring key.

The scale operationalizes three primary predictors—AI Tool Dependence (ATD), AI Cognitive Dependence (ACD), and Cognitive Inertia (CI)—each measured using three items, along with a single exploratory bridge item assessing calibration under AI use. All items are scored in the dependence/inertia direction (no reverse-scoring), with construct scores computed as item means. Given the abbreviated three-item subscales (trimmed from longer validated measures), lower internal consistency is anticipated relative to original source scales; Cronbach's alpha should be reported transparently for each subscale.

Results feed into hypotheses H5–H8 of the broader protocol, linking AI use patterns to critical-thinking task performance and calibration accuracy assessed elsewhere in the study