Discuss one theory of thinking and decision making

Question 1

Who created the dual process model?

Answer 1

Kahneman in 2003

Question 2

What did Kahneman believe?

Answer 2

Believed that there were two systems of thinking

Question 3

System 1

Answer 3

System 1 is fast, instinctive, emotional, automatic and relatively unconscious.

It is the system that developed first in the process of evolution.

It enables individuals to make rapid decisions based on their past experiences, which is important for survival.

However, this comes at the cost of such decisions not being always accurate or entirely rational.

System 1 is where heuristics originate. It is also commonly referred to as ‘intuition’.

Question 4

System 2

Answer 4

System 2 is slower, more analytical, logical, rule based and conscious.

It is thought to have evolved later with the development of language and abstract though.

System 2 enable us to override immediate automatic responses and analyse the situation in greater depth.

When we have the time, resources or the necessity to cross-check the first intuitive decisions, system 2 may be switched on to override possibly faulty thinking.

Question 5

Theory of Kahneman

Answer 5

In Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman investigates the interaction of the two systems.

His theory is that both systems are active when we are awake, with System 1 running automatically and System 2 in a background mode, in which only a little of its capacity is engaged, until called upon.

Question 6

Why is system 1 not inaccurate?

Answer 6

This is not to say that all System 1 thinking is inaccurate, or is all based on heuristics that automatically result in bias.

Kahneman points out that not all intuitive judgements are produced by heuristics; the accurate intuition of experts is better explained by the automaticity that comes with prolonged practice.

Highly selective perception and memory shape what comes to mind before we make decisions.

In this way, our System 1 thinking controls our System 2 choices.

Question 7

Link to schema theory

Answer 7

The link to schema theory is strong here: our automatic thinking is often based on memories from our previous experiences.

Question 8

A study that strongly supports the dual processing theory through the use of fonts

Answer 8

Atler and Oppenheimer

Question 9

Aim of Atler and Oppenheimer

Answer 9

To investigate how font affects thinking.

Question 10

Procedure of Atler and Oppenheimer

Answer 10

Participants were given a test made up of 3 questions, and measures whether people use fast thinking to answer the question or use slow thinking.

​Half the students were given the test in an easy-to-read font, while the other half were given the test in a difficult-to-read font.

Question 11

Results of Atler and Oppenheimer

Answer 11

The results were that among students given the test in easy font, only 10% of participants answered all three questions correctly, while among the students given the test in difficult font, 65% of participants were fully correct.

Question 12

Conclusion of Atler and Oppenheimer

Answer 12

This therefore shows that when a question is written in a difficult-to-read font, this causesparticipants to slow down, and engage in more deliberate, effortful System 2 thinking, resulting in answering the question correctly.

On the other hand, when the question is written in an easy-to-read font, participants use quick, unconscious and automatic System 1 thinking to come up with the obvious answer which is correct.

Question 13

Linking Atler and Oppenheimer to dual system

Answer 13

This study therefore providesstrong evidence fordual processing theory, providing support for Kahneman’s model of fast System 1 and slow System 2 thinking.

Question 14

Issue with Atler and Oppenheimer

Answer 14

However, the study only involved Princeton undergraduate students, which are clearly not representative of the general population.

Therefore, the results may not generalise to other groups of participants.

In addition, the test is made up of “trick” questions, which rarely come up in everyday life.

Therefore, the ecological validity of this study is low, as the real-world significance of these findings is unclear.

In addition, the study does not give any biological evidence for the dual processing theory and therefore cannot give strong evidence for the theory.

Question 15

Biological evidence of the dual processing model study

Answer 15

McClure et al.

Question 16

What does McClure et al show?

Answer 16

The study shows that certain parts of the limbic system are associated with each type of thinking system.

Question 17

Aim of McClure et al

Answer 17

Aim of the study was to use a delay-discounting experiment to examine the neural correlates of short-term and long-term preferences for monetary rewards.

Question 18

Procedure of McClure et al

Answer 18

The procedure was that participants made a series of choices between smaller and larger sums of money while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The specific sums and times of availability were varied across choices.

Question 19

Results of McClure et al

Answer 19

The results were that parts of the limbic system associated with the midbrain dopamine system were more activated by decisions involving immediately available rewards. In contrast, regions of the lateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex were activated more by the longer-term options. The later and larger rewards resulted in the most activation of these regions.

Question 20

Conclusion of McClure et al

Answer 20

The results suggest that human behaviour is often characterised by a competition between lower level impulsive and automatic processes and abstract reasoning and future planning.

Question 21

What does McClure demonstrate?

Answer 21

The study therefore demonstrates clearly, through the involvement of the limbic system, how emotion affects decision-making.

Has broad application to addiction: the limbic system and impatient behaviour can be triggered by the sight, sound or smell of the desired objects of alcohol, drugs or gambling.

The pre-frontal cortex is essential for the delay of gratification.

Question 22

Evaluation of McClure et al

Answer 22

Suggests a dual-systems theory is valid because of the clear activation of the two different areas of the brain.

However, individual differences are obscured by the results; and it would be expected that different individuals had a variety of reasons for their choices. This level of meaning is missing.

The discount rate can vary widely across individuals, being much higher, for instance, among adolescents (Sapolsky, 2017).

While it shows that different areas are activated by different types of thinking, it does not demonstrate any relationship between the two types of thinking.

Finally, this is a US-based study and needs cross-cultural replication for wider generalisation.

Question 23

What is the issue with the dual system?

Answer 23

Even though the dual system can be useful to save time, it can also lead to biases.

Question 24

Example of bias

Answer 24

One of these is anchoring bias where the initial informed is used significantly to make a decision

Question 25

Study that analyses the effect of dual system and anchoring bias

Answer 25

Englich and Mussweiler

Question 26

Procedure of Englich and Mussweiler

Answer 26

Participants were given the case materials and were asked to read through the materials and form an opinion about the case.

Afterwards, they were given a questionnaire.

Half of the participants were told that the prosecutor demanded a 34-month sentence; while the other half were told that he demanded a 2-month sentence and were then given a questionnaire.

Question 27

Results of Englich and Mussweiler

Answer 27

The results were that the participants with a high anchoring bias had a far higher estimation compared to the participants with a low estimation

Question 28

What does Englich and Mussweiler show?

Answer 28

Shows that the system 1 played a key role as they immediately took the first piece of information to make a decision and therefore supports the system 1 of the dual system theory.

It also presents the issue that is caused by the dual system theory and the answer was inaccurate because of it.

Question 29

Evaluation of Englich and Mussweiler

Answer 29

A strength of the study is that the study was a true experiment, allowing the researchers to infer a cause and effect relationship between the value of the anchor and the sentence.

However, the sample size is small and therefore it is difficult to generalise the findings. In addition, the sample was limited in courtroom experience - which means that the results can best be generalised to younger, less experienced judges.

Question 30

Conclusion of Dual System

Answer 30

In conclusion, there is strong evidence for the dual system theory through the use of research and the research has helped to discover the potential causes of the dual system which include issues such as anchoring bias.

The strongest evidence is the biological evidence made by McClure as it shows the physically there are differences.