Subconscious memory vs. conscious thought
For a long time, there have been questiions about whether to make quick decisions based on gut instinct or to think about it and weigh all your options. I’m sure plenty of you have been told to do the former when taking those standardized tests, on the grounds that your first instinct is most often right, even if you can’t actually work the problem out.
It seems that there’s been research from both sides. So here’s another bit of research from the gut instinct side. These researchers used kaleidoscope images to show to the study’s participants and had them focus on half the images, but distracted them from concentrating on the other half. Then they were shown another set of images and told to pick out the ones from the first set. And the participants did better at picking out the images that they were distracted while viewing. Make what you will of this.
