Article


The History of Dual-Process Thinking


Abstract

This paper reviews the history of the dual-mode information processing idea in philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. It tracks how the concept that human thinking works through two separate but interconnected systems has developed from ancient times to now. The review looks at early philosophical ideas that suggested two processes in human thought. It points out Plato’s separation of reason and appetite, and Aristotle’s division of the soul into rational and irrational parts. Moving to modern times, the paper discusses how dual-process theories emerged in 20th-century psychology. It covers William James’s ideas of associative and true reasoning, and Freud’s theories of conscious and unconscious mental processes. The review then focuses on formal dual-process theories in cognitive and moral psychology from the 1970s onwards. During this time frame, researchers began to systematically study and test these theories. By following this historical path, the paper aims to show how the idea of dual-mode information processing has grown and become important in our understanding of human thinking across different fields and time periods.

Article history

Received 14 June 2024. Accepted without revisions 05 August 2024. Published online 15 August 2024

Keywords

DOI

Language

English (en)

Authors

Piotr ZielonkaWarsaw University of Life Sciences, Institute of Biology

Krzysztof SzymanekUniversity of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Humanities

Bartłomiej DzikIndependent researcher.

Sławomir JakiełaDepartment of Physics and Biophysics, Institute of Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland

Michał BiałekUniversity of Wrocław

Issue

Orbis Idearum Volume 12, Issue 1 (2024), 11-51
Regular Issue

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