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The effect of the cognitive demands of the distraction task on unconscious thought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2014

Laurent Waroquier ,
Marlène Abadie ,
Olivier Klein  and
Axel Cleeremans
Laurent Waroquier
Affiliation:
CLLE, Université de Toulouse II, 31058 Toulouse, France. laurent.waroquier@univ-tlse2.fr http://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/post-doctorants/waroquier-laurent/ marlene.abadie@univ-tlse2.fr http://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/doctorants/abadie-marlene/
Marlène Abadie
Affiliation:
CLLE, Université de Toulouse II, 31058 Toulouse, France. laurent.waroquier@univ-tlse2.fr http://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/post-doctorants/waroquier-laurent/ marlene.abadie@univ-tlse2.fr http://clle-ltc.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil-clle-ltc/annuaire/doctorants/abadie-marlene/
Olivier Klein
Affiliation:
Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. oklein@ulb.ac.be http://www.psycho-psysoc.site.ulb.ac.be/equipe/olivier-klein
Axel Cleeremans
Affiliation:
Center for Research in Cognition & Neurosciences, Consciousness, Cognition & Computation Group, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. axcleer@ulb.ac.be http://srsc.ulb.ac.be/axcwww/axc.html
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Abstract

The unconscious-thought effect occurs when distraction improves complex decision making. Recent studies suggest that this effect is more likely to occur with low- than high-demanding distraction tasks. We discuss implications of these findings for Newell & Shanks' (N&S's) claim that evidence is lacking for the intervention of unconscious processes in complex decision making.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 44 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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