Trusting
your instincts may help
you to make better decisions
than thinking hard, a study
suggests.
University
College London found making
subconscious snap decisions
is more reliable in certain
situations than using rational
thought processes.
Participants
in the study were given
a computer-based task and
performed better when they
were given less time to
make their decisions.
The psychological
research is published in
Current Biology.
Ten volunteers
were shown a computer screen
covered in over 650 identical
symbols, including one rotated
version of the symbol.
They were
asked to decide which side
of the screen the rotated
image was on.
Instincts
accurate
Given a
fraction of a second to
look at the screen, the
subjects were 95% accurate.
But when
they were allowed to scrutinize
the image for over a second,
they were only 70% accurate.
Dr Zhaoping,
of UCL's Department of Psychology
said: "This finding seems
counter-intuitive.
"You would
expect people to make more
accurate decisions when
given the time to look properly."
The researchers
said that in their test,
the instinctive decisions
were more likely to be correct
because the subconscious
brain recognised a rotated
version of the same object
as different from the original,
whereas the conscious brain
could identify the two objects
as identical, albeit in
different orientations.
Dr Zhaoping
said: "The conscious or
top-level function of the
brain, when active, vetoes
our initial subconscious
decision - even when it
is correct - leaving us
unaware or distrustful of
our instincts and at an
immediate disadvantage.
"Falling
back on our inbuilt, involuntary
subconscious processes for
certain tasks is actually
more effective than using
our higher-level cognitive
functions."
Advantage
Kim Stephenson,
a psychologist researching
some aspects of decision-making,
said subconscious reactions
could be an advantage in
some situations.
He said
people and animals were
designed subconsciously
to recognise and fixate
on anything out of the ordinary
as it could help to identify
and escape from predators
quickly, and so has an evolutionary
advantage.
He said:
"Your subconscious mind
is more useful for specific
things, where you don't
have time and need to react
quickly.
"It's not
to say that if you've got
to make a decision you should
make it in a fraction of
a second - that is daft.
"But your
body is designed to do some
things very quickly, so
using instincts would be
better there."
Dr Zhaoping
agreed: "The trick is knowing
when this applicable or
not. Trusting your instincts
is only useful in some situations."
