Dual-Process Theory

Dual-Process Theory

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The family of theories that divide thinking into fast, autonomous processes that give a default response and slower reasoning that can override it.

What it is

Jonathan Evans and Keith Stanovich reviewed five lines of criticism in 2013 and defended the distinction, describing the slower kind as relying on working memory and hypothetical thinking. On this site it is read alongside System 1 and System 2, Habitual, Limited and Extended Decision Making and Consumer Behavior Model.

In effect

A familiar cereal picked up without comparison shows the default end; a first car bought after weeks of comparison shows the slow end.

What it does not say

It is not the same thing as System 1 and System 2, which sits close to it on this site but describes a different part of how people decide. It also does not say that the finding reaches every product, buyer or setting; where this page goes beyond the cited research, the step is an inference and is labelled as one.

Sources

  1. See the article listed above for the work this page draws on.