The effect of the cognitive demands of the distraction task on unconscious thought

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Waroquier ◽  
Marlène Abadie ◽  
Olivier Klein ◽  
Axel Cleeremans
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Unconscious Thought ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Unconscious Processes ◽  
Distraction Task ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision

AbstractThe unconscious-thought effect occurs when distraction improves complex decision making. Recent studies suggest that this effect is more likely to occur with low- than high-demanding distraction tasks. We discuss implications of these findings for Newell & Shanks' (N&S's) claim that evidence is lacking for the intervention of unconscious processes in complex decision making.

scholarly journals Role of automatic, conscious, and unconscious thought processes in complex decision making

1970 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
Draženka Levačić ◽  
Mario Pandžić ◽  
Dragan Glavaš
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Unconscious Thought ◽  
Conscious Thought ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision

A complex decision is any decision which includes choosing among options with numerous describing attributes. Certain decisions are fast, often guided with automatic processes of thought, while other decisions are made much slower with careful examination of all the factors. These processes can have a significant impact on the quality of decision making. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of automatic, conscious and unconscious thought processes in the context of decision making. Participants were psychology students aged between 19 to 28 years. First experiment investigated the role of three different thought processes on choosing a subjectively best option, as well as TTB heuristic option. The second experiment investigated metacognitive aspects of decision making, precisely, to determine the differences in feeling of rightness (FOR) as well as the tendency to change the decision, depending on the activated thought processes. Different thought processes determined the choice of the subjectively best option. In the conscious thought condition, participants chose the subjectively best option more often than in the automatic or unconscious thought condition. However, there was no difference between conditions in choosing the TTB heuristic option. The feeling of rightness was significantly higher in conscious thought condition than in automatic or unconscious thought condition, but the two latter conditions did not differ in the judgment of feeling of rightness nor did they differ in the tendency to change the decision.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Benefits of Conscious and Unconscious Thought in Complex Decision Making

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlène Abadie ◽  
Laurent Waroquier
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Problem ◽  
Multiple Criteria ◽  
Unconscious Thought ◽  
Unconscious Processing ◽  
Conscious Thought ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
The Right ◽  
Snap Judgments

Decision-making research reports mixed findings about the best way to make complex decisions involving multiple criteria. While some researchers emphasize the importance of conscious thought to make good decisions, others encourage people to stop thinking and trust their snap judgments. Still others recommend a distracting activity prior to making a choice, assuming that unconscious processing of the decision problem occurs during distraction. We review studies comparing these three decision modes. We show that conscious deliberation helps people to make good decisions when people have in mind precise verbatim information about the exact features of each alternatives. By contrast, a distraction period is more useful when meaning-based gist representations of the alternatives are accessible. Finally, while a period of distraction or deliberation is beneficial for decision making under certain conditions, to blindly follow one’s gut feeling is never the right solution.

Does unconscious thought improve complex decision making?

2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud Rey ◽  
Ryan M. Goldstein ◽  
Pierre Perruchet
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Unconscious Thought ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision

Think, blink or sleep on it? The impact of modes of thought on complex decision making

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben R. Newell ◽  
Kwan Yao Wong ◽  
Jeremy C. H. Cheung ◽  
Tim Rakow
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Unconscious Thought ◽  
Attribute Weighting ◽  
Final Experiment ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Modes Of Thought ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines controversial claims about the merit of “unconscious thought” for making complex decisions. In four experiments, participants were presented with complex decisions and were asked to choose the best option immediately, after a period of conscious deliberation, or after a period of distraction (said to encourage “unconscious thought processes”). In all experiments the majority of participants chose the option predicted by their own subjective attribute weighting scores, regardless of the mode of thought employed. There was little evidence for the superiority of choices made “unconsciously”, but some evidence that conscious deliberation can lead to better choices. The final experiment suggested that the task is best conceptualized as one involving “online judgement” rather than one in which decisions are made after periods of deliberation or distraction. The results suggest that we should be cautious in accepting the advice to “stop thinking” about complex decisions.

Boundary Conditions on Unconscious Thought in Complex Decision Making

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1118-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Payne ◽  
Adriana Samper ◽  
James R. Bettman ◽  
Mary Frances Luce
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Fixed Time ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Unconscious Thought ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Conscious Thought ◽  
Decision Environment ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision

Should individuals delegate thinking about complex choice problems to the unconscious? We tested two boundary conditions on this suggestion. First, we found that in a decision environment similar to those studied previously, self-paced conscious thought and unconscious thought had similar advantages over conscious thought constrained to a long fixed time interval in terms of identifying the option with the highest number of positive outcomes. Second, we found that self-paced conscious thought performed better than unconscious thought in a second decision environment where performance depended to a greater extent on magnitudes of the attributes. Thus, we argue that it is critical to take into account the interaction of forms of processing with task demands (choice environments) when considering how to approach complex choice problems.

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