System 1 “is the brain’s fast, automatic, intuitive approach”. System 1 activity includes the innate mental activities that we are born with, such as a preparedness to perceive the world around us, recognize objects, orient attention, avoid losses – and fear spiders! Other mental activities become fast and automatic through prolonged practice.
Does not require working memory:
- Autonomous
- High Capacity
- Parallel
- Non-conscious
- Biased Responses
- Contextualized
- Automatic
- Associative
- Experience-Based Decision Making
- Independent of Cognitive Ability
System 2 is “the mind’s slower, analytical mode, where reason dominates”. Usually, system 2 activity is activated when we do something that does not come naturally and requires some sort of conscious mental exertion.
Requires Working Memory:
- Cognitive Decoupling; Mental Simulation
- Slow
- Capacity Limited
- Serial
- Conscious
- Normative Responses
- Abstract
- Controlled
- Rule-Based
- Consequential Decision Making
- Correlated with Cognitive Ability