Need for cognition and external information search: Responses to time pressure during decision-making

Investigated the relationship between need for cognition (a motivation to engage in thinking and cognitive endeavors), time pressure, and predecisional external information search using an information display board paradigm in 90 Ss (aged 16-72 yrs) from the Netherlands. Under time pressure, Ss accelerated processing and reported less confidence in their decision. Low-need-for-cognition (NC) Ss expended less cognitive effort to the task than did high-NC Ss, as was indicated by cognitive responses and self-reports. Differences in search strategy in response to time pressure were found only among low-NC Ss and not among high-NC Ss. Under time pressure low-NC Ss, compared to unpressured low-NC Ss, exhibited search strategies that were more variable in amount of information assessed across alternatives, indicating the use of more heuristic strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).