Thinking and Decision Making

Thinking is the process of using knowledge and information to make plans, interpret the world, and make predictions about the world in general

 

Ways and Purposes of Thinking:

  • Creativity

  • Reasoning

  • Decision Making - the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision-maker

--> decision making is needed during problem-solving to reach a conclusion

  • Problem Solving - is thinking that is directed towards specific problems by means of a set of mental strategies

 

The Dual Process Model

Stanovich and West claims there are two different ways of thinking and decision making

System 1: Gun

  • Automatic, intuitive and effortless

  • Uses heuristics (mental shortcuts) to make decisions quickly

  • Efficient for processing complex information but prone to errors

  • Creates a strong feeling of certitude (confidence in initial judgments)

  • More likely to be used under high cognitive load

System 2: Drew

  • Slower, conscious and rational

  • Requires more cognitive effort

  • Analyses multiple possibilities before reaching a conclusion

  • Less prone to errors but takes longer

  • Creates less confidence in decisions compared to system 1

 

System 1

System 2

Context-dependent

--> focuses on existing evidence and ignores absent evidence

Abstract

Concerns everyday decision-making

Conscious reasoning

Generates impression and inclinations

Logical and reliable

Not logic-based and prone to error

Slow and requiring effort

Operates automatically and quickly with little or no effort

Transfers information from on situation to a new situation

 

Evaluation

(+) biological evidence that different types of thinking may be processed in different parts of the brain

(+) Wason selection task and other tests for cognitive biases are reliable in their results

(-) model can be overly reductionist

(-) definitions for the two systems are not always clear