An Overview of Judgment and Decision Making Research Through the Lens of Fuzzy Trace Theory

Abstract

We present the basic tenets of fuzzy trace theory, a comprehensive theory of memory, judgment, and decision making that is grounded in research on how information is stored as knowledge, mentally represented, retrieved from storage, and processed. In doing so, we highlight how it is distinguished from traditional models of decision making in that gist reasoning plays a central role. The theory also distinguishes advanced intuition from primitive impulsivity. It predicts that different sorts of errors occur with respect to each component of judgment and decision making: background knowledge, representation, retrieval, and processing. Classic errors in the judgment and decision making literature, such as risky-choice framing and the conjunction fallacy, are accounted for by fuzzy trace theory and new results generated by the theory contradict traditional approaches. We also describe how developmental changes in brain and behavior offer crucial insight into adult cognitive processing. Research investigating brain and behavior in developing and special populations supports fuzzy trace theory’s predictions about reliance on gist processing.

Improving women’s knowledge about prenatal screening in the era of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome – development and acceptability of a low literacy decision aid

“…The knowledge questions and marking scheme were informed by Fuzzy Trace Theory, a dual-process theory which proposes two ways in which people process and store information in their memory: (i) processing and remembering the bottom-line meaning (‘gist’), and (ii) processing and recalling information precise details (‘verbatim’) [48]. When making decisions, studies have shown that gist information processing tends to be superior to verbatim processing in improving the quality of the decision, possibly because it relies less on remembering the exact details [49] As such, our knowledge measure was designed to assess whether women understood the ‘gist’ of the information, including their (i) conceptual knowledge of screening for Down syndrome (e.g. screening tells you the chance of having a baby with Down syndrome) and, (ii) numeric knowledge (e.g.…”

Asymmetrical Property of the Subproportionality of Weighting Function in Prospect Theory: Is It Real and How Can It Be Achieved?

“…Decision models that approximate this line of thinking include the fuzzy-trace theory [69], heuristics, like embodied heuristics [70], and intertemporal trade-off model [45]. Fuzzy-trace theory emphasizes categorical differences and predicts that categorical differences between options are encoded as gist representations (e.g., "some money" versus "some money or no money", "all-or-none distinctions", and "low-versus high-danger"), while people will make decisions on the basis of the essential meaning rather than on verbatim expected values [71]. Embodied heuristics, as an early version of ecological psychology, was coined by Gigerenzer [70], that is, innate or learned rules of thumb to facilitate superior decisions.…”

Fuzzy-trace theory and the battle for the gist in the public mind.

“…The evidence for Fuzzy-Trace Theory has been reviewed elsewhere (e.g., Reyna, 2012 , Setton, Wilhelms, Weldon, Chick, & Reyna, 2014 ), including the efficacy of health interventions based on the theory (see Blalock & Reyna, 2016 ). However, support for many of the major tenants of Fuzzy-Trace Theory has been “hiding in plain sight” in the classic journal literature.…”