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Does Unconscious Thought Outperform Conscious Thought On Complex Decisions? A Further Examination, Scott Andrew Withrow, Todd J. Thorsteinson Apr 2009

Does Unconscious Thought Outperform Conscious Thought On Complex Decisions? A Further Examination, Scott Andrew Withrow, Todd J. Thorsteinson

Psychology Faculty Publications

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 …


The Curious Incident Of The Capuchins, J. David Smith, Michael J. Beran, Justin J. Couchman, Marianna V.C. Coutinho, Joseph B. Boomer Jan 2009

The Curious Incident Of The Capuchins, J. David Smith, Michael J. Beran, Justin J. Couchman, Marianna V.C. Coutinho, Joseph B. Boomer

Language Research Center

No abstract provided.


Animal Metacognition: Problems And Prospects, J. David Smith, Michael J. Beran, Justin J. Couchman, Mariana V.C. Coutinho, Joseph B. Boomer Jan 2009

Animal Metacognition: Problems And Prospects, J. David Smith, Michael J. Beran, Justin J. Couchman, Mariana V.C. Coutinho, Joseph B. Boomer

Language Research Center

Researchers have begun to evaluate whether nonhuman animals share humans’ capacity for metacognitive monitoring and self-regulation. Using perception, memory, numerical, and foraging paradigms, they have tested apes, capuchins, a dolphin, macaques, pigeons, and rats. However, recent theoretical and formal-modeling work has confirmed that some paradigms allow the criticism that low-level associative mechanisms could create the appearance of uncertainty monitoring in animals. This possibility has become a central issue as researchers reflect on existing phenomena and pause to evaluate the area’s current status. The present authors discuss the associative question and offer our evaluation of the field. Associative mechanisms explain poorly …


Signal Detection With Criterion Noise: Applications To Recognition Memory, Aaron S. Benjamin, Michael Diaz, Wee, Serena Jan 2009

Signal Detection With Criterion Noise: Applications To Recognition Memory, Aaron S. Benjamin, Michael Diaz, Wee, Serena

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A tacit but fundamental assumption of the theory of signal detection is that criterion placement is a noise-free process. This article challenges that assumption on theoretical and empirical grounds and presents the noisy decision theory of signal detection (ND-TSD). Generalized equations for the isosensitivity function and for measures of discrimination incorporating criterion variability are derived, and the model's relationship with extant models of decision making in discrimination tasks is examined, An experiment evaluating recognition memory for ensembles of word stimuli revealed that criterion noise is not trivial in magnitude and contributes substantially to variance in the slope of the isosensitivity …


Knowing When To Trust Others: An Erp Study Of Decision-Making After Receiving Information From Unknown People, Cheryl Boudreau, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Seana Coulson Jan 2009

Knowing When To Trust Others: An Erp Study Of Decision-Making After Receiving Information From Unknown People, Cheryl Boudreau, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Seana Coulson

Faculty Scholarship

To address the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie choices made after receiving information from an anonymous individual, reaction times (Experiment 1) and event-related brain potentials (Experiment 2) were recorded as participants played 3 variants of the Coin Toss game. In this game, participants guess the outcomes of unseen coin tosses after a person in another room (dubbed “the reporter”) observes the coin toss outcomes and then sends reports (which may or may not be truthful) to participants about whether the coins landed on heads or tails. Participants knew that the reporter's interests either were aligned with their own (Common Interests), opposed …