Unconscious thought and deliberation without attention: A miracle or a mirage?

Euge`Ne J F M Custers

doi:10.1007/s40037-014-0127-y

Abstract

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Highlights

Since the time of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), people have been fascinated by the possibility of a powerful and influential ‘unconscious’ that controls much of our behaviour
As Bonke et al [6] aptly note, Dijksterhuis et al.’s unconscious thought theory diverges from mainstream views of humanconsciousness, i.e. the dual system theories [7,8,9] which recently became popular among a much broader audience after the release of Daniel Kahneman’s 2011 book Thinking, fast and slow [10]
The two earlier studies pitted the quality of medical diagnosis after participants were engaged in either conscious thought or unconscious thought [14, 15]

Summary

Introduction

Since the time of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), people have been fascinated by the possibility of a powerful and influential ‘unconscious’ that controls much of our behaviour. The Bonke et al study [6] is the third to test the other view, deliberation without attention, in the medical domain. The two earlier studies pitted the quality of medical diagnosis after participants were engaged in either conscious thought or unconscious thought [14, 15].

Results

Conclusion