While thinking an unwanted thought could make it more likely to recur, people can proactively control this process. When trying to avoid an unwanted thought, people often reactively reject and replace the thought after it occurs. However, proactively avoiding an association in the first place can
According to a new study, proactively avoiding an association in the first place can be a much more efficient means of avoiding an unwanted thought. It can also help prevent the repetitive looping of unwanted thoughts.
When trying to avoid an unwanted thought, people often reactively reject and replace the thought after it occurs. However, proactively avoiding an association in the first place can be much more efficient, and help prevent the repetitive looping of unwanted thoughts.
Based on reaction times and how effective participants were at generating new associations, the researchers used computational approaches to model how people were avoiding repeated associations. Most people, they found, use reactive control – rejecting unwanted associations after they have already come to mind.