Intuitive and deliberate decisions can be accounted for by the same cognitive process model

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• A key debate in cognitive science concerns whether intuitive and deliberate thought arise from a single cognitive mechanism or distinct processes.
• Interactive activation models offer a general framework for understanding cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if interactive activation processes can account for both intuitive and deliberate decision-making.
• To test the applicability of the Parallel Constraint Satisfaction (PCS) model across different decision modes.

Main Methods:

• An online experiment with 128 participants was conducted.
• Participants completed a probabilistic inference task under varying decision-mode instructions (intuitive vs. deliberate).
• Computational modeling, specifically the PCS model, was used to analyze decision strategies and response patterns.

Main Results:

• Decision-mode instructions successfully altered decision times and subjective experiences but not the underlying decision strategies.
• The Parallel Constraint Satisfaction (PCS) model, based on interactive activation, effectively explained decision-making in both intuitive and deliberate conditions for most participants.
• Deliberation enhanced decision quality (adherence to rational standards) and aligned response times and confidence more closely with PCS model predictions.

Conclusions:

• The findings support an integrated processes perspective, suggesting a unified mechanism underlies both intuitive and deliberate cognition.
• Coherence-based mechanisms, as modeled by PCS, can explain cognitive behavior across different decision modes.
• Interactive activation provides a robust framework for understanding the flexibility of cognitive processing.