Evidence that logical reasoning depends on conscious processing.

Full Abstract

Humans, unlike other animals, are equipped with a powerful brain that permits conscious awareness and reflection. A growing trend in psychological science has questioned the benefits of consciousness, however. Testing a hypothesis advanced by [Lieberman, M. D., Gaunt, R., Gilbert, D. T., & Trope, Y. (2002). Reflection and reflexion:
A social cognitive neuroscience approach to attributional inference. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 199-249], four studies suggested that the conscious, reflective processing system is vital for logical reasoning. Substantial decrements in logical reasoning were found when a cognitive load manipulation preoccupied conscious processing, while hampering the nonconscious system with consciously suppressed thoughts failed to impair reasoning (Experiment 1). Nonconscious activation (priming) of the idea of logical reasoning increased the activation of logic-relevant concepts, but failed to improve logical reasoning performance (Experiments 2a-2c) unless the logical conclusions were largely intuitive and thus not reliant on logical reasoning (Experiment 3). Meanwhile, stimulating the conscious goal of reasoning well led to improvements in reasoning performance (Experiment 4). These findings offer evidence that logical reasoning is aided by the conscious, reflective processing system.

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Author information

Author/s: DeWall, C Nathan (CN); Baumeister, Roy F (RF); Masicampo, E J (EJ);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 201 Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. nathan.dewall(-atsign-)uky.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Consciousness and cognition (Conscious Cogn), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 17 (issue 3) : pp 628-45

Dates: Created 2008/07/21; Completed 2008/10/02;

PMID: 18226923, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Awareness
Brain - physiology
Cognition
Consciousness
Decision Making
Female

Female
Humans
Intuition
Logic
Male
Motivation
Volition

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