Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 22.1
Properties of intuition and reasoning (adapted from Kahneman 2002).
Normally effortful operations, which are included in system 2 type processes, tend to interrupt
each other, while effortless processes (system 1) can be combined without big losses.
Based on the model of thinking and deciding Kahneman and Tversky proposed their prospect
theory. Following it, the choice of the consumer can be made in two phases: an early
phase of
editing
and a subsequent
phase of evaluation
. A central feature of prospect theory and a general
property of the perceptual system is
reference dependence
. That means that perceptions are not a
single-valued function, but also require a parameter for reference value. In other words it is
necessary to know current and prior stimulations. The main ideas that guided the research of
Kahneman and Tversky (1979) in this fi eld were as follows:
• Perceptual system plus the intuition operations generate impressions of the attributes of
objects.
• Intuitive judgment occupies a position between the automatic operations of perception and
the deliberate operation of reasoning.
• All characteristics that are attributed to intuition are also properties of perceptual operations.
• Unlike perception, however, the operation of system 1 is not restricted to the processing of
the current stimulus.
• The view of scientifi c knowledge available about perceptual phenomena can be a source of
useful hypotheses about the working of intuition.
To draw upon analogies of perception, an explanation is needed of the accessibility of thoughts
following Kahneman (2003a).
Accessibility
here is a technical term used to describe the degree to
which mental contents are accessible to the mind. Accessibility of thought can serve as another
way to understand systems of cognition and the differences between them. Accessibility gives to
perceptions a dimension, in particular a visual one. That means that some attributes are more
available than others, both in perception and judgment. Furthermore, accessibility is a continuum,
not a dichotomy. Some of the determinants of the accessibility are probably genetic, others
develop through experience; and accumulation of skills gradually increases the accessibility of
useful responses and of productive ways to organize information, until skilled performance
becomes almost effortless.
Kahneman and Tversky proposed in their alternative theory of choice that carriers of utility
are gain and loss changes rather than states of wealth. This assumption can be explained from
the point of view that it is compatible with basic principles of perception and judgment.
