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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
Emotional see-saw affects rationality of decision-making: Evidence for metacognitive impairments
Michał Folwarczny1, Magdalena C Kaczmarek2, Dariusz Doliński1
1SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Psychology in Wrocław, Poland.
Abstract:
This research investigated the cognitive mechanisms that underlie impairments in human reasoning triggered by the emotional see-saw technique. It has previously been stated that such manipulation is effective as it presumably induces a mindless state and cognitive deficits in compliant individuals. Based on the dual-system architecture of reasoning (system 2) and affective decision-making (system 1), we challenged the previous theoretical account by indicating that the main source of compliance is impairment of the meta-reasoning system when rapid affective changes occur. To examine this hypothesis, we manipulated affective feelings (system 1 processing) by violating participants' expectations regarding reward and performance in a go/no-go task in which individuals were to inhibit their responses to earn money. Aside from the go/no-go performance, we measured rationality (meta-reasoning system 2) in decision-making by asking participants to comply with a nonsensical request. We found that participants who were exposed to meta-reasoning impairments due to the emotional see-saw phenomenon exhibited mindless behavior.
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