A Meta-Analysis on Unconscious Thought Effects

Strick, Madelijn; Dijksterhuis, Ap; Bos, Maarten W.; Sjoerdsma, Aukje; Baaren, Rick B. van; Nordgren, Loran F.

doi:10.1521/soco.2011.29.6.738

Cited by 118 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Nieuwenstein et al's (2015) meta-analysis rather indicated that previous findings supporting the existence of the UTE were confined to studies that used relatively small samples of participants. In the present study, we were interested in the role of presentation format of the information as it has been identified as a potential moderator of the UTE by Strick et al (2011). We reported two experiments with a total sample size of N = 377 and conducted Bayesian analyses across the two experiments to circumvent the problem of the unreliability of results obtained with relatively small sample sizes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information presentation format moderates the unconscious-thought effect: The role of recollection

Abadie¹,

Waroquier²,

Terrier³

2015

Memory

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The unconscious-thought effect occurs when distraction improves complex decision-making. In two experiments using the unconscious-thought paradigm, we investigated the effect of presentation format of decision information (i) on memory for decision-relevant information and (ii) on the quality of decisions made after distraction, conscious deliberation or immediately. We used the process-dissociation procedure to measure recollection and familiarity. The two studies showed that presenting information blocked per criterion led participants to recollect more decision-relevant details compared to a presentation by option. Moreover, a Bayesian meta-analysis of the two studies provided strong evidence that conscious deliberation resulted in better decisions when the information was presented blocked per criterion and substantial evidence that distraction improved decision quality when the information was presented blocked per option. Finally, Study 2 revealed that the recollection of decision-relevant details mediated the effect of presentation format on decision quality in the deliberation condition. This suggests that recollection contributes to conscious deliberation efficacy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information presentation format moderates the unconscious-thought effect: The role of recollection

Abadie¹,

Waroquier²,

Terrier³

2015

Memory

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“…The meta-analysis by Strick and colleagues found larger UTEs when central-general goals were induced. 6 2. Diagnostic accuracy for all our cases was low, suggesting that they were indeed difficult.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strick and colleagues "suspect that unconscious thought thrives most when the presentation time is just long enough to encode the information, but also short enough to prevent further on-line processing" (p. 757). 6 Thus, the UTE appears extremely sensitive to experimental manipulations, and the ideal conditions for it seem hard to achieve, and may not be achievable in real life decision making. We should also mention a very recent attempt to replicate the UTE in multi-attribute choice: the study by Nieuwenstein and colleagues was both adequately powered and maintained all the conditions found in Strick and colleagues' meta-analysis to favor the UTE.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can Medical Diagnosis Benefit from “Unconscious Thought”?

2015

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The Unconscious Thought Theory argues that making complex decisions after a period of distraction can lead to better decision quality than deciding either immediately or after conscious deliberation. Two studies have tested this Unconscious Thought Effect (UTE) in clinical diagnosis with conflicting results. The studies used different methodologies and had methodological weaknesses. We attempted to replicate the UTE in medical diagnosis by providing favorable conditions for the effect, while maintaining ecological validity.Family physicians (N=116) diagnosed three complex cases in one of three thinking modes: immediate, unconscious (UT) and conscious (CT). Cases were divided into short sentences, which were presented briefly and sequentially on computer. After each case presentation, the immediate response group gave a diagnosis; the UT group performed a 2-back distraction task for 3 minutes before giving a diagnosis; and the CT group could take as long as necessary before giving a diagnosis.We found no differences in diagnostic accuracy between groups (P=0.95). The CT group took a median of 7 seconds to diagnose, which suggests that physicians were able to diagnose "online", as information was being presented. The lack of a difference between the immediate and UT groups suggests that the distraction had no additional effect on performance.To assess the decisiveness of the evidence of this null result, we computed a Bayes

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“…The common finding is that unconscious thought leads to better decisions (Bos et al, 2008;Dijksterhuis, 2004;Dijksterhuis, Bos, Nordgren, & Van Baaren, 2006;Dijksterhuis & Meurs, 2006;Ham, Van den Bos, & Van Doorn, 2009;Lerouge, 2009), although some research reports failures to replicate these effects (Acker, 2008;Calvillo & Penaloza, 2009;Gonzalez-Vallejo, Lassiter, Bellezza, & Lindberg, 2008;Newell, Wong, Cheung, & Rakow, 2009;Payne, Samper, Bettman, & Luce, 2008;Thorsteinson & Withrow, 2009;Waroquier, Marchiori, Klein, & Cleeremans, 2009). However, a recent meta-analysis including more than 80 studies indicated that, overall, there is a benefit for unconscious thought in decisionmaking although the overall effect size is small (for more information, please see Strick et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%