“Cognitive Reflection Test”
Kahneman reports, “Shane Frederick constructed a Cognitive Reflection Test…He went on to study the characteristics of the students who score very low on this test-the supervisory function of System 2 is weak in these people-and found that they are prone to answer questions with the first idea that comes to mind and unwilling to invest the effort needed to check their intuitions.”
The test demonstrates that the functioning of System 2 is not uniform among all people: in some it is strong and in others it is weak. A weak System 2 prompts individuals to submit to their intuitions without being critical of the compulsions of the intuitions. A weak System 2 spontaneously accepts System 1’s recommendations. Comparatively, a strong System 2 encourages critical thinking. An individual whose System 2 is strong would subject the recommendations from System 1 to a critical assessment before implementing them. The strength of System 2 influences cognitive abilities.
“Reciprocal Priming”
Kahneman explains, “A study conducted in a German university…students were asked to walk around a room for 5 minutes at a rate of 30 steps per minute, which was about one-third their normal pace. After a brief experience, the participants were much quicker to recognize words related to old age, such as forgetful, old, and lonely. Reciprocal priming affects the tend to produce a coherent reaction; if you were primed to think of old age.”
The slow walking (which is common among the elderly people) is a stimulus that elicits thoughts regarding aging. The priming prompted the students to think about aging. Their ability to identify the words associated with aging confirms that walking was instrumental in reinforcing the reality of aging. The experiment contributed to their reciprocal priming because they were engaged in activities that characterize aging.
Strangers
Kahneman elucidates, “The psychologist Timothy Wilson wrote a book with the evocative title Strangers to Ourselves. You have now been introduced to that stranger in you, which may be in control of what you do, although you rarely have a glimpse of it. System 1 provides the impressions that often turn into your beliefs, and is the source of the impulse that often become your choices and your actions.”
System 1's automatic reactions make humanity 'strangers to themselves.' Its operation influences people's implicit interpretations of various actualities in their lives. The System triggers intuitive judgments rapidly. The inability to suppress System 1 results in strangeness perceptions whereby people cannot establish why they act in particular ways.
“Cognitive Strain versus Cognitive Ease”
Kahneman explains, "Whenever you are conscious, and perhaps even when you are not, multiple computations are going on in your brain…One of the dials measures cognitive ease, and its range is between “Easy” and “Strained”... Strained indicates that a problem exists, which will require increased mobilization of System 2... Cognitive strain is affected by both the current level of effort and the presence of unmet demands.”
Manifestly, the brain computations influence the effort that would be required in both systems. System 1 conducts the assessments and computations automatically. System 1 dictates the amount of effort that would be needed in System 2 for tasks to be completed. Cognitive ease reduces the need to redirect efforts to System 2 because the brain senses that an individual is not facing threats. When one is experiencing threats, he/she undergoes cognitive strain which requires the utilization of System 2 in mitigating the threat.
Illusion
Kahneman writes, “The word illusion brings visual illusions to mind, because we are all familiar with pictures that mislead. But vision is not the only domain of illusions; memory is also susceptible to them, as is thinking more generally…Words that you have seen before become easier to see again-you can identify them better than other words when they are shown very briefly or masked by noise.”
Humanity experiences both visual and mental illusions. Mental illusions elicit ‘cognitive ease’ because they promote familiarity. Illusions shape perceptions especially when objects are associated with past experiences. Mental illusions impact the memories of individuals too resulting in misleading delusions.
