Bonke et al (2014)

• Aim: Determine if S1 intuitive thinking led to better performance than S2 rational thinking in doctors, aka would educated intuition lead doctors to make more accurate estimations about patient survival probability than deliberate thought?
• Participants: 86 medical experts, 57 novices (purposive sampling from hospitals in the Netherlands)
• Procedures: Participants were presented with 4 fictional medical cases on a computer in the form of statements and clinical test results. Half of the participants were to engage in conscious thought for 4 minutes about the patient’s life expectancy while the other half was distracted by a task for the 4 minutes. The participants were then asked to estimate the probability each patient would be alive in 5 years’ time.
• Results: While there was a significant difference in task performance between the novices and experts, there wasn’t a big difference in accuracy between the conscious and unconscious thinking conditions.
• Conclusion: S1 isn't necessarily better than S2.