Financial decisions were about 4 times more likely to involve analytic reasoning (45%) than visual imagery (12%). Recreational decisions were about 3 times more likely to involve visual imagery (31%) than analytic reasoning (12%).

Mental imagery was similarly easy to generate and it was similarly vivid across financial and recreational decisions.

The vividness of imagery during decision-making predicts risk-taking.

Conclusions • Mental imagery seems to be a distinct decision-making mode that complements other established modes (calculation, affect, recognition). • Its application is context-dependent: Recreational decisions (experiential, concrete) - imagery use is more tural, images are more vivid, and their valence stronger predicts risk-taking willingness. • Financial decisions (abstract, analytical) - imagery use is less frequent and less influential; calculation seem to dominate. • Implication: Decision-making frameworks should include imagery-based processing as a mode that bridges cognition and emotion, particularly in experiential domains.

Remember the viral studies inferring some people are less likely to think visually?

Well some DECISIONS are also less likely to involve #visualation — e.g., #finance versus #recreation: doi.org/10.1080/2044...

And visual vividness predicted #risk taking: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...

#cogSci #xPhi #edu