Thinking and Decision Making

What is thinking?

• Thinking: The process of using knowledge and information to make plans, interpret the world and make predictions

• The components of thinking include reasoning, problem solving, creativity and decision making

• These components are all interconnected

• Decisions may be guided by intuition, or may be shaped by biases and cognitive shortcuts

Intuitive thinking

Making decisions and judgments quickly based on gut feelings and unconscious process

Rational thinking

Rational thinking is the process of using logic and reason to evaluate information and make decisions

What is problem solving?

Thinking that is directed towards specific problems by using a set of mental strategies

What is decision making?

• Decisions may be guided by intuition, or may be shaped by biases and cognitive shortcuts

• People do not always make rational decisions, even when they have all the information at their disposal

• This applies to everyday decisions that only impact one person, or political decisions with global consequences

Dual process model

Proposes that human cognition and decision-making involve two distinct systems

System 1

• The automatic, effortless way of thinking

• It employs heuristics: mental shortcuts that focus on one aspect of a complex problem and ignore others

• This allows for efficient processing 

• May be prone to errors when our assumptions do not match the reality of a specific situation 

• Gilbert and Gill argued we become more likely to use System 1 thinking when our cognitive load is high

System 2

• A slower, conscious, rational mode of thinking

• Assumed to require more effort

• Starts by thinking carefully about all the possible ways we could interpret a situation and eliminate possibilities based on sensory evidence until we find a solution 

• Rational thinking allows us to analyse and think carefully, why it's happening and what is likely to happen next 

Thinking and Decision making Study

Alter

Alter Aim

To investigate the effect of cognitive divulgence in regards to the type of font used on the use of rational thinking over intuitive thinking 

Alter Procedure

• Sample of 40 volunteer Princeton students

• 2 conditions: Fluent, easy to read font, and dis fluent, difficult to read font 

• Each participant was randomly assigned to either the fluent or disfluent condition

• Each participant completed the Cognitive Reflections Test (CRT).

• This test is made up of 3 questions, and measures whether people use fast thinking to answer the question (and get it wrong) or use slow thinking (and get it right)

Alter Results

• Only 10% of students given the easy font answered all 3 questions correctly 

• 65% of students in the difficult font gave the correct answers to all 3 questions 

Alter Conclusion

• When a question is written in a difficult font, this causes participants to slow down and engage in system 2 thinking, results in answering the question correctly 

• On the other hand, when the question is written in an easy-to-read font, participants use System 1 thinking to come up with the obvious (but incorrect) answer