The Two-Track Mind

Question 0

What is System 1 and what does it do?

Answer 0

• Generally described as a form of universal cognition shared between humans and animals.
• Includes instinctive behaviors that are innately programmed.
• System 1 processes are rapid, parallel and automatic in nature: only their final product is posted in consciousness.

Question 1

What is the two-track mind?

Answer 1

• Researchers have recently proposed that there are two distinct cognitive systems underlying reasoning.
• System 1 is old in evolutionary terms and shared with other animals.
• System 2 is evolutionary recent and distinctively human.
• These “two minds” compete for control of our inferences and actions.

Question 2

What is System 2 and what does it do?

Answer 2

• Believed to have evolved much more recently and is thought to be uniquely human.
• System 2 thinking is slow and sequential in nature and makes use of the central working memory system.
• Permits abstract hypothetical thinking that can’t be achieved by System 1.

Question 3

Which system controls more of our behavior?

Answer 3

System 1 (which even controls out higher mental processes and complex social behaviors).

Much of our brain’s activity is non-conscious.

Question 4

What is priming?

Answer 4

Subconscious exposure to a stimulus that affects later thought or behavior.

Some evidence of System 1 dominance comes in the form of priming studies.

Question 5

Is it possible to be racist and not know it?

Answer 5

Implicit Racism: Unconscious, negative attitudes toward racial outgroups.

The Implicit Associations Test (Greenwald & Banaji, 1998) was developed to measure this.