Cognitive Psychology - Essay Example

Cognitive Psychology {Unit – {Unit of 12 November Introduction For many years, critical thinkers have debated on the roles that reasoning and intuition play while making moral judgments. Hume suggested that individuals possess a moral sense that enables them to differentiate between right and wrong, and Kant proposed that moral judgments are made on the basis of reason (Adler & Rips, 2008). However, it has been suggested that a dual-process model of reasoning rejects reason as the basic cause of moral judgment and states that intuition is more influential.

According to Adler & Rips (2008), intuition is characterized by fast and automatic processing of information that is not available to self-contemplation. On the other hand, reasoning is characterized by slow and deliberate processing of information (Adler & Rips, 2008). Therefore, it is evident that both reasoning and intuition processes are used when making moral judgments, but their use is determined by the situation being judged. For instance, reasoning processes are used when individuals have conflicting intuitions or when they have no intuitions altogether.

When a dominant intuition is brought forth, individuals do not engage the reasoning processes (Stanovich, 2010). Therefore, the dual-process models of reasoning can successfully why smart people do dumb things. Intuition and Reasoning Dual-process models are comprised of intuition and reasoning. Intuition is considered as an effortless, quick information processing mode that depends on well-learned prior associations (Adler & Rips, 2008). Reasoning is known as an effortful information processing mode that depends on rule-based inferences.

Reasoning is employed when individuals have both motivation and cognitive capacity (Stanovich, 2010). When individuals perform tasks as diverse as evaluating persuasive arguments, forming impressions of other individuals, and solving logical problems, they employ different processing strategies. Individuals can employ quick-and-dirty technique, arriving at typically reasonable answers effortlessly and efficiently (Adler & Rips, 2008). For instance, individuals may agree with an argument simply because a quick glance shows that the argument is presented by a reliable source, which contains statistical data.

With adequate motivation and time, as well as freedom from distractions, individuals can arrive at qualitatively different conclusions (Adler & Rips, 2008). Dual-process models provide accounts of how individuals process information in a quick-and-dirty manner, how they process information when willing and having the ability to engage in critical thinking, and conditions that enhance effortful processing (Stanovich, 2010). Processing of information in a quick-and-dirty manner is a component of the dual-process models that clearly explains why smart people do dumb things.

It is possible for smart individuals to act in a foolish way when they fail to get freedom from distractions, or when they don’t take their time to think in a critical and effortful way (Adler & Rips, 2008). According to Adler & Rips (2008), it is more likely for an individual to arrive at wrong conclusions if an individual fails to engage in the reasoning process, which is a slow and deliberate approach of processing information. Intuition is a fast, automatic, and effortless approaches of processing information in which people often arrive at inaccurate conclusions (Adler & Rips, 2008).

Even smart people can seem to behave in a foolish way when they are unable to reason critically while solving problems. Therefore, smart people can end up doing dumb things when they fail to opt for reasoning as the appropriate approach to solve problems and give justified conclusions. Dual-processing Modes Dual-process models have been found to be very common when social psychological variables, like attitude change are being studied (Stanovich, 2010). Examples of the dual-process modes include the associative processing mode and rule-based processing mode.

According to the dual-process models, persuasion may take place after either extremely superficial thinking or intense scrutiny. In the field of cognitive psychology, working memory and attention have also been conceived as relying on the associative processing mode and rule-based processing mode (Adler & Rips, 2008). The basis of the associative processing mode is the slow learning system, and it essentially operates as a pattern-completion mechanism. Once knowledge has been accumulated due to a variety of experiences, this system of memory uses the accumulated knowledge to fill in information, automatically and quickly, about the affective reactions that have been experienced previously, in situations that resemble the present situation (Stanovich, 2010).

On the other hand, the rule-based processing mode uses culturally transmitted and symbolically represented knowledge as its program. The rule-based processing mode depends on human linguistic capabilities (Adler & Rips, 2008). Conclusion People can arrive at qualitatively different solutions depending on the information processing mode that has been used (Adler & Rips, 2008). Intuition often results in biased and inadequate solutions because it individuals are not involved in critical thinking.

On the other hand, reasoning leads to accurate and dependable answers because people are involved in the processes of critical thinking (Stanovich, 2010). Reasoning takes place when an individual is motivated and in the absence of distractions. It has been found that even smart people can do dumb things if they don’t engage their reasoning in solving problems. References Adler, J. E., & Rips, L. J. (2008).Reasoning: studies of human inference and its foundations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stanovich, K. E. (2010). How to think straight about psychology (9. ed., international ed.). Boston, Mass.: Pearson.