GenAI use is positively associated with university students' self-reported critical analytical skills (total effect)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q2 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i2 Among 421 Chinese undergraduates, GenAI use significantly predicted critical thinking in a model without the mediator (β = 0.257, p < 0.001). → Yan Z 2026

Evidence¶

Yan Z 2026¶

Yan Z, Fang Z and Zou W (2026). The association between generative AI use and university students' critical thinking: a moderated mediation model of GenAI feedback literacy and reflective thinking. Front. Psychol. 17:1939286. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1939286

q2 · i2 · associational · r2

PLS-SEM path estimate from a cross-sectional survey of 421 Chinese undergraduates using validated self-report scales. The article reports the total effect "was also significant (β = 0.257, t = 4.864, p < 0.001)". Zero-order correlation between GenAI use and critical thinking was r = 0.244 (p < 0.001).

"The total effect of GenAI use on critical thinking, equivalent to its estimate when modelled without the mediator, was also significant (β = 0.257, t = 4.864, p < 0.001), supporting H1."

Yan Z 2026 (2)¶

Yan Z, Fang Z and Zou W (2026). The association between generative AI use and university students' critical thinking: a moderated mediation model of GenAI feedback literacy and reflective thinking. Front. Psychol. 17:1939286. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1939286

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Descriptive correlation analysis (Table 1, N = 421). The article reports the four variables "were significantly and positively inter-correlated (all p < 0.001)", with GenAI use most strongly correlated with feedback literacy (r = 0.451).

"GenAI use, GenAI feedback literacy, critical thinking and reflective thinking were significantly and positively inter-correlated (all p < 0.001)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Critical Thinking — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Meta-reviews reach contradictory conclusions on whether AI reliance harms or helps critical thinking, with substantial design limitations limiting generalizability — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• AI literacy is strongly associated with students' critical AI evaluation in generative-AI-supported learning — related
• GenAI feedback literacy mediates the association between GenAI use and critical thinking, with near-complete mediation — related
• Reflective thinking moderates the direct GenAI use–critical thinking path: positive at low reflectivity, non-significant at high reflectivity — related
• The indirect effect of GenAI use on critical thinking via feedback literacy is conditional on reflective thinking, strengthening as reflectivity rises — related
• GenAI use is positively associated with self-reported critical-thinking disposition among business students only in the adjusted structural model, with a near-zero zero-order correlation — related