What Is Cognitive Ease?
Cognitive ease refers to how easy it is for our brains to process information and exposure to stimuli. There are many theories to account for how these processes function, with one being the System 1 and System 2 theory that was widely popularized by Daniel Kahneman’s bestseller Thinking Fast and Slow.
Kahneman’s division of System 1 and System 2 thinking illustrates our tendency to rely on cognitive ease. System 1 refers to the automatic, quick thinking which we struggle to control and cannot turn off (20). System 2 refers to the mental attention applied in complex situations that often produces feelings of agony or concentration (20). While System 1 produces the gross reaction to a gory scene in a movie, System 2 is used to solve a complex math problem. Kahneman notes that cognitive ease has ranges and responses requiring System 1 and System 2 respectively to respond to a unique stimulus (Kahneman 59). Depending on the intensity, it ranges from “easy” to “strained”. Cognitive ease arises from the fact that as humans, we have limited capacity for attention so our mind responds differently to different stimuli and problems.
To college students, understanding these concepts matter because knowing when to regulate and adjust to situations based on cognitive ease or strain can improve studying and avoid daily illusions. Creating awareness of our methods of thinking can help manage the range of stimuli that college students experience in the classroom and in their social lives. This may be exhibited by managing cognitive strain to reduce stress or understanding how to approach complex problems with simplicity, and thus encourage creativity. Specifically, Kahneman notes that someone in a light-hearted mood might use the simpler System 1 to approach a problem, causing them to express greater creativity (69). Outside research confirms this notion, as researchers Antoine Saillenfest, Jean-Louis Dessalles, and Olivier Auber found that when giving students complex game or tests, those who approached the situation with simplicity had greater creativity in solving the games. This theory has also manifested in our consumer products, such as the innovative branding and design of Apple devices. Apple’s Creative Director, Ken Segall, argues that through encouraging simplicity in its designs and packaging, Apple has built a brand associated with creativity and inspiration (Saillenfest).
One Effect Of Cognitive Ease:
Mere Exposure Effect
Daniel Kahneman defines what Robert Zajonc calls mere exposure effect as “the link between the repetition of an arbitrary stimulus and the mild affection that people eventually have for it” (Kahneman 66). Furthermore, it should be noted that “the mere exposure effect occurs because the repeated exposure of a stimulus is followed by nothing bad. Such a stimulus will eventually become a safety signal” (Kahneman 67).
Adam Grant explains the mere exposure effect through a study where people were given both regular and inverted photographs of themselves and friends. People preferred the regular photos of their friends since that is how they see their friends but preferred the inverted photos of themselves since they usually see themselves in mirrors (Grant 77).
As ads become increasingly targeted toward a user through email and social media accounts, advertising companies can take advantage of the mere exposure effect. It allows companies to repeatedly show a user the same products or messages. For example, often after visiting a site for online shopping, users will find that product in adds again and again. Through the mere exposure effect, the user will find that product increasingly attractive and most likely becomes more susceptible to buying it (Fang).
Second Effect of Cognitive Ease:
Confirmation Bias and Belief Perseverance
When we are in a state of cognitive ease, we may make poor judgements due to biases such as confirmation bias and belief perseverance. Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to seek out and internalize information that confirms our current beliefs while discarding information that does not (Lack 73). In a similar vein, belief perseverance is “the tendency to stick with an initial belief, even after receiving contradictory and disconfirming information about that belief” (Lack 74).
The combination of confirmation bias and belief perseverance affects our social relationships. When we decide that we like someone, we see all the positive qualities and easily recall wonderful things they have done. Conversely, if we decide that we dislike someone, we see their negative qualities and remember the things they did wrong. At times, we may be unwilling or unable to see someone’s true character as we prefer to see the illusion rather than reality. Illusions simplify our world and give us comfort, in other words they give us cognitive ease.
For example, when searching for sources to support an argument, it is important to be unbiased and search for both supporting and opposing sources. A person with confirmation bias will search for sources that only support their beliefs but in order to have a truly productive discussion, impartiality is needed.
Cognitive Ease: Strategic Thinking
One way to uncover biases or heuristics that affect your thinking is by breaking down the “elements of thought,” as described by Dr. Richard Paul. By breaking down one’s purpose, problem, conclusions, facts, assumptions, concepts, implications, and point of view, two people are able to better understand each other. This is a way to bring clarity into a situation that is highly emotional and thus determine critically where the differences in position lie.
A structured protocol that was recommended by Paul aids in identifying how our thoughts, feelings, and desires are interdependent. This can also be applied to behavior. First, one should identify a feeling or behavior that one suspects to be irrational (e.g. irritability, resentment, arrogance, or depression). Second, one should identify the thinking that would account for this feeling, in which there may be more than one possibility, with one being the most likely. Third, one should determine to what extent this thinking or behavior is reasonable by paying attention to the reasons given to justify this thinking and what underlying motives may account for alternative interpretations of this thinking. Once one reflects on this, one can conclude that such thoughts or behaviors are irrational and can express precisely why so by constructing thinking that would represent a rational response in the situation.
Strategic thinking could help college students discern which job they want. At Georgetown many students begin with the purpose of finding a meaningful job or work they are passionate about. Yet once the consulting or finance recruiters arrive on campus, many students assume that they have to work in those industries in order to avoid unemployment or be successful. This conclusion is driven by a competitive atmosphere filled with false assumptions about the difficulty of finding employment and jumping to conclusions about possible definitions of success.
Group members: Michael Bakan; Ann-Kathrin Merz; Sandra Puetate; Hwangchan Yu
Sources
Fang, Singh, Ahluwalia. “An Examination of Different Explanations for the Mere Exposure Effect.” Journal of Consumer Research Volume 34. Issue 1 (1 June 2007): 97-103.
Grant, Adam. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, New York: Penguin Books, 2017.
Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farar, Straus, and Giroux, April 2013.
Lack, Caleb W., and Rousseau, Jacques. 2016. Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience : Why We Can’t Trust Our Brains. New York: Springer.
“How Simplicity Helps to Increase Innovation and Meaning.” Big Think Edge, 21 Aug. 2018.
Saillenfest, Antoine, Jean-Louis Dessalles, and Olivier Auber. “Role of Simplicity in Creative Behaviour: The Case of the Poietic Generator.” Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Computational Creativity, June 2016.
Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life. Boston: Pearson, 2012.