Does unconscious thought outperform conscious thought on complex decisions? A further examination

• Main Authors: Todd J. Thorsteinson, Scott Withrow
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Society for Judgment and Decision Making 2009-04-01
• Series: Judgment and Decision Making
• Subjects: conscious thought; decision making; unconscious thought.NAKeywords
• Online Access: http://journal.sjdm.org/8922/jdm8922.pdf

Two experiments examined the benefits of unconscious thought on complex decisions (Dijksterhuis, 2004). Experiment 1 attempted to replicate and extend past research by examining the effect of providing reasons prior to rating the options. Results indicated no significant differences between the conditions. Experiment 2 attempted to replicate the findings of Dijksterhuis, Bos, Nordgren, and van Baaren (2006) and determine if a memory aid could overcome the limitations of conscious thought on complex tasks. Results revealed that a memory aid improved decisions compared to the conscious thought condition. Participants in the unconscious thought condition did not perform significantly better than did participants in the conscious thought condition.