Don't Think Before You Act The Concious Reconsideration Model
Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Harley, Heidi
Keywords
Unconcious Processing, Cognitive Processing, Incubation, Unconscious Thought, Decision Making
Area of Concentration
Psychology
Abstract
Recent studies by Dijksterhuis and colleagues suggest that unconscious thought outperforms conscious thought in cases in which information overloads working memory. The present study explores an original hypothesis, termed the Conscious Reconsideration Model, which suggests that people are capable of forming accurate implicit impressions of incoming information (as found in research on impression formation), but attempting consciously to justify such impressions can lead to counterproductive reconsideration based on details that are consciously remembered and easily verbalized. One hundred twenty male college students read a total of 48 sentences describing 4 cars along 12 attributes. Prior to reading the sentences, half of the participants were instructed to form an impression of the cars, whereas the other half were asked to read the sentences carefully. Participants were assigned to 1 of 3 thought conditions: conscious, unconscious, or no thought. Following the thought manipulation, all participants rated their attitudes toward the cars. Participants in all conditions rated the car with the greatest number of positive attributes significantly higher than the other cars. Condition groups did not differ. Participants in all groups may have formed impressions automatically and engaged in conscious reconsideration due to unlimited time allowed during attitude rating.
Recommended Citation
Andrews, Amber L., "Don't Think Before You Act The Concious Reconsideration Model" (2008). Theses & ETDs. 3900.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/3900
Rights
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