1991
DOI: 10.1177/001872679104400104
|View full text |Cite
|
Sign up to set email alerts
|

Switching Cognitive Gears: From Habits of Mind to Active Thinking

Abstract: The phrase "switching cognitive gears" is used to call attention to the fact that cognitive functioning involves the capacity to shift between cognitive modes, from automatic processing to conscious engagement and back again. Effectiveness may be as much a function of an actor's capacity to sense when a switch is appropriate, as to process in one or another mode. In this paper the authors develop a perspective on the switch from automatic to active thinking and the conditions that provoke it. They apply the pe… Show more

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...
2
1
1
1

Citation Types

6
461
2
13

Year Published

1994
1994
2015
2015

Publication Types

Select...
5
3
1

Relationship

0
9

Authors

Journals

citations
Cited by 637 publications
(482 citation statements)
references
References 25 publications
6
461
2
13
Order By: Relevance
“…This may not always be the case. In some settings, disruptions may be viewed positively because they stimulate the development of novel solutions or break dysfunctional habits (Louis & Sutton, 1991). For example, in a research and development setting disruptive events may be actively encouraged because they may prompt unique ideas.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This may not always be the case. In some settings, disruptions may be viewed positively because they stimulate the development of novel solutions or break dysfunctional habits (Louis & Sutton, 1991). For example, in a research and development setting disruptive events may be actively encouraged because they may prompt unique ideas.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Nor has sensemaking focused on how people respond to perceived lies. It has been documented that sense is made of events that get noticed (Starbuck and Milliken, 1988;Weick, 1995) and events that are novel or discrepant with oneÕs expectations are likely to get noticed (Louis and Sutton, 1991). Attribution theory posits similar characteristics for situations in which people try to explain why an event has occurred (Hastie, 1984), yet also ignores the specific discrepant situation of being lied to and it pays little attention to the bi-level analysis of attribution to the individual employee or to the whole organization.…”
Section: Dishonesty and Deceptionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Even research teams have been shown to be reluctant to alter a given technical approach once it has been selected, and the longer the approach has been used, the greater their rigidity (Allen, 1966 (Langer and Imber, 1979;Kruglanski and Freund, 1983). With increasing exposure, observers tend to "chunk" activities into larger units that convey less information than fine-grained observauons, although a sudden surprise can sometimes reverse the process (Newtson, 1973;Louis and Sutton, 1991). Familiarity also breeds rounnized response patterns; once activities are well entrenched, even superficial resemblance to a known stimulus is sufficient to tngger a familiar response (Luchins, 1942).…”
Section: The Timing Of Technological Adaptationmentioning
confidence: 99%