Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:28:38.374Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2014

Laurent Waroquier ,
Marlène Abadie ,
Olivier Klein  and
Axel Cleeremans
Laurent Waroquier
Affiliation:
CLLE, Université de Toulouse II, 31058 Toulouse, France. [email protected]://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/post-doctorants/waroquier-laurent/[email protected]://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/doctorants/abadie-marlene/
Marlène Abadie
Affiliation:
CLLE, Université de Toulouse II, 31058 Toulouse, France. [email protected]://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/post-doctorants/waroquier-laurent/[email protected]://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/doctorants/abadie-marlene/
Olivier Klein
Affiliation:
Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. [email protected]://www.psycho-psysoc.site.ulb.ac.be/equipe/olivier-klein
Axel Cleeremans
Affiliation:
Center for Research in Cognition & Neurosciences, Consciousness, Cognition & Computation Group, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. [email protected]://srsc.ulb.ac.be/axcwww/axc.html
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The 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.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 44 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abadie, M. Waroquier, L. & Terrier, P. (2013) Gist memory in the unconscious thought effect. Psychological Science 25:1253–59.Google Scholar
Baird, B., Smallwood, J., Mrazek, M. D., Kam, J. W. Y., Franklin, M. S. & Schooler, J. W. (2012) Inspired by distraction mind wandering facilitates creative incubation. Psychological Science 23:1117–22.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., Masicampo, E. J. & Vohs, K. D. (2011) Do conscious thoughts cause behavior? Annual Review of Psychology 62:331–61. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.131126.Google Scholar
Cleeremans, A. & Jiménez, L. (2002) Implicit learning and consciousness: A graded, dynamic perspective. In: Implicit learning and consciousness, ed. French, R. M. & Cleeremans, A., pp. 1–40. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Dehaene, S., Changeux, J., Naccache, L., Sackur, J. & Sergent, C. (2006) Conscious, preconscious, and subliminal processing: A testable taxonomy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 10:204–11.Google Scholar
Dijksterhuis, A. (2004) Think different: The merits of unconscious thought in preference development and decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 87:586–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dijksterhuis, A. & Aarts, H. (2010) Goals, attention, and (un)consciousness. Annual Review of Psychology 61:467–90. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M. W., Nordgren, L. F. & van Baaren, R. B. (2006b) On making the right choice: The deliberation-without-attention effect. Science 311(5763):1005–1007. doi: 10.1126/science.1121629.Google Scholar
Dijksterhuis, A. & Nordgren, L. F. (2006) A theory of unconscious thought. Perspectives in Psychological Science 1:95–109.Google Scholar
Klein, O., Doyen, S., Leys, C., Magalhães de Saldanha da Gama, P A., Miller, S., Questienne, L. & Cleeremans, A. (2012) Low hopes, high expectations expectancy effects and the replicability of behavioral experiments. Perspectives on Psychological Science 7:572–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koch, C. & Tsuchiya, N. (2006) Attention and consciousness: Two distinct brain processes. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11:16–22.Google Scholar
McMahon, K., Sparrow, B., Chatman, L. & Riddle, T. (2011) Driven to distraction: The impact of distracter type on unconscious decision making. Social Cognition 29:683–98.Google Scholar
Reyna, V. F. (2012) A new intuitionism: Meaning, memory, and development in fuzzy-trace theory [presidential address]. Judgment and Decision Making 7:332–59.Google Scholar
Ric, F. & Muller, D. (2012) Unconscious addition: When we unconsciously initiate and follow arithmetic rules. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 141:222–26. doi: 10.1037/a0024608.Google Scholar
Strick, M., Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M. W., Sjoerdma, A., van Baaren, R. B. & Nordgren, L. F. (2011) A meta-analysis on unconscious thought effects. Social Cognition 29:738–62.Google Scholar
Waroquier, L., Marchiori, D., Klein, O. & Cleeremans, A. (2009) Methodological pitfalls of the unconscious thought paradigm. Judgment and Decision Making 4:601–10.Google Scholar
Waroquier, L., Marchiori, D., Klein, O. & Cleeremans, A. (2010) Is it better to think unconsciously or to trust your first impression? Social Psychological and Personality Science 1:111–18.Google Scholar
Watanabe, M., Kang, C., Yusuke, M., Ueno, K., Asamizuya, T., Tanaka, K. & Logothetis, N. (2011) Attention but not awareness modulates the BOLD signal in the human V1 during binocular suppression. Science 334:829–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar