Evidence for conflict detection from the self-reported conflict measure

ABSTRACT Human thinking is typically biased. A central question in dual process theories is whether people detect conflicts between heuristic and logical information. In the present study, we explored this issue. Participants were presented with conflict and non-conflict base-rate neglect problems and syllogism problems, followed by self-reported conflict measures determining the extent to which they considered alternative solutions after resolving each problem. Although the participants generally could not correctly answer the conflict problems, the results showed that their self-reported conflict measures in the incorrect conflict items were lower than those in the correct non-conflict items, indicating that the participants could recognise the conflict between heuristic and logical information. The implications of the ongoing debate on conflict detection are also discussed.