The Science of Intuition LAURA A. KINGkingla@missouri.edu

Course Schedule

9/8 Intuition: From Magic to Science 9/15 The Good9/22 The Bad9/30 The Ugly10/7 The Place of Intuition in the

Good Life

2 WAYS OF KNOWING

Intuitive Reflection

“Dr. King, Why do you study intuition?”

Studying intuition illuminates 2 fascinating things:

What we share with all other creatures

The content of human nature.

Defining Intuition

Vague but compelling gut feelingsKnowing without knowing why or

how one knows

Just knowing.

. “Synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance...” ~ C. G. Jung,

“…an uncanny atmosphere, and forces upon us the idea of something fateful and inescapable when otherwise we should have spoken only of ‘chance.’”~ S. Freud

And that feeling that, of course, it is raining because we forgot our umbrella.

Defining Intuition

Vague but compelling gut feelingsKnowing without knowing why or

how one knowsSelf-evidently true, inevitable, &

inescapable and not necessarily rational.

Inescapable

“She took me by the shoulders and looked in my eyes. ‘You know this doesn’t mean anything’ she said.

I looked at her and started to cry and said, ‘You know it does.’”

From King, L. A., Scollon, C. K., Ramsey, C. M., & Williams, T. (2000). Stories of life transition: Happy endings, subjective well-being, and ego development in parents of children with Down Syndrome. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 509-536.

Inescapable

Dreams.

Inescapable.

“The January 31st, 1986 earthquake struck just before 11:47 am EST. Although early media speculation had the epicenter located from Columbus to southern Canada, the U.S. Geological Survey determined that the Epicenter was east of Cleveland…Richter scale 4.96…produced very strong vibrations noticed by numerous people.”

Defining Intuition

Vague but compelling gut feelingsKnowing without knowing why or how one

knowsSelf-evidently true; inevitable; &

inescapable, not rationalDetecting Connections/Not reliant on

effortful reflection

Reflection interferes with automatic, intuitive processes

When experts reflect on their actions, performance decreases

Semantic Coherence Judgmentsbase, dance, snow, __________lines, mouth, sixteen, __________

Coherent Incoherent Magic, Plush, Floor

Falling, Actor, DustCoin, Quick, SpoonLeaf, Big, ShadeGold, Stool, TenderManners, Round, TennisPlaying, Credit, Report,Salt, Deep, FoamSurprise, Wrap, CareThread, Pine, Pain

Magic, Actor, Spoon

Falling, Quick, Shade

Coin, Big, Tennis

Leaf, Stool, Report

Gold, Round, Floor

Manners, Deep, Dust

Playing, Plush, Care

Salt, Wrap, Tender

Surprise, Pine, Foam

Thread, Credit, Pain

Hicks, J. A., Cicero, D. C., Trent, J., Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2010). Positive affect, intuition, and the feeling of meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 967-979.

Defining Intuition

Vague but compelling gut feelings Knowing without knowing why or how one knows Self-evidently true; inevitable; inescapable, not

rational Not reliant on effortful reflection Primitive/imagistic; seeing is

believing/emotional

Sympathetic Magic

Widespread magical practices & rituals in traditional cultures.

In psychology, studied by Paul Rozin at U. Penn.

The Law of Similarity

Two things that look alike share essential properties Examples:

strangely shaped chocolates“voodoo doll”/dart throwing

King, L. A., Burton, C. M., Hicks, J. A., & Drigotas, S. M. (2007). Ghosts, UFOs, and Magic: Positive affect and the experiential system. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 905-919.

The Law of Contagion

When two things come into contact they can exchange essential elements.

Examples: “roached” juice; Hitler’s sweater

….Rozin, Markwith, and Ross (1990) stated that the participants… “knew this reluctance was foolish, but felt the reluctance anyway. This suggests a ‘low-level’ gut feeling that can influence behavior in spite of countering cognitions” (p. 383).

Some observations:

Primitive & survival-relevant (disgust, self-protection)

Connections….

Conceptually Defining Intuition

Vague but compelling gut feelings Knowing without knowing why or how one

knows Self-evidently true; inevitable; & inescapable Not reliant on effortful reflection; nonrational Primitive/imagistic; seeing is

believing/emotional Associationistic

Operationally Defining Intuition

To study anything scientifically we need a way to know when it is present; to manipulate it to see what it does; and to measure it!

That’s called an operational definition.

Operational Definitions of Intuition

Manipulating Intuition Instructions (“use your 1st instinct)

Induce Positive EmotionCognitive Load

How much is…

5 + 6 = 3 + 56 = 89 + 2 = 12 + 53 = 75 + 26 = 25 + 52 = 63 + 32 =

Yes, these are a bit more difficult but the exercise is really worth doing, so be patient:

/ 123 + 5 =

Now think of a color and a tool!

Did you think of RED & HAMMER?

Measuring Intuition

Rational-Experiential Inventory Seymour Epstein, U Mass, Amherst