Nicolas Beauvais

Humans and LLMs rate deliberation as superior to intuition on complex reasoning tasks - Communications Psychology People and LLMs evaluate deliberative reasoning more favorably than intuitive thinking—even when both yield accurate results. This preference appears to be intuitive itself and has implications for how we assess others’ and AI advise.

People and LLMs evaluate deliberative reasoning more favorably than intuitive thinking—even when both yield accurate results. This preference appears to be intuitive itself and has implications for how we assess others’ and AI advise.
@wimdeneys.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Importantly, we show here that this doesn't just mean rationalizing faulty intuitions. Deliberation also enables to (better) justify sound ones.
Beyond correction, deliberation thus plays a key role in justification, supporting metacognitive monitoring, explanation, & epistemic accountability. (4/4)

So deliberate reasoning (aka Type 2 reasoning/System 2) not only serves to correct erroneous/biased intuitions. It supports cognitive transparency: the ability to access, understand, and articulate the basis of one’s reasoning.
In other words, it makes our thinking explicit. (3/4)

We found that intuitive correct responses were often poorly justified.
However, participants gave much clearer and normatively appropriate explanations after deliberative correct responses (even when their answer didn't change). (2/4)

We asked people to solve classic reasoning problems (bat-and-ball, base-rate, risky-choice) twice:
• Once under time pressure (intuitive response)
• Then again with unlimited time (deliberate response)
After each response, they were asked to provide a justification for their answer. (1/4)

Happy to share that my first paper is out in Thinking & Reasoning! 📄📢
With Aikaterini Voudouri, @boissinesther.bsky.social & @wimdeneys.bsky.social we show that deliberate reasoning helps not just to correct but also to justify intuitive judgments.

🔗Full paper: shorturl.at/JTeTi
Quick thread below!

👀 Just out in Thinking & Reasoning with @boissinesther.bsky.social @mts-raoelison.bsky.social @wimdeneys.bsky.social

Curious how intuitive reasoning develops through adolescence?

🔗 www.tandfonline.com/eprint/KFH5K...

Quick summary👇

Had a great week at the 2025 Summer Institute on Bounded Rationality at @mpib-berlin.bsky.social.
Super interesting talks & workshops on various aspects of decision-making and a great opportunity to discuss the latest work in the field!
Many thanks to the organizers, speakers & participants!

"Defining deliberation for dual-process models of reasoning" is now published. Free online access to the published Nat Rev Psy version: rdcu.be/erM5T

If you're doing experimental research in Europe—whatever your discipline or academic status—this international study on research practices could use your input!
limesurvey-lettres.sorbonne-universite.fr/index.php/51...

Section 4.4: Multiple regression

A correlation between using #AI and lower #criticalThinking went viral: doi.org/10.3390/soc1...

Many accepted the title's implied causation: "AI Tools... IMPACT... Critical Thinking"

Few mentioned that the correlation
- interacts with #education
- diminishes (quadratic term)

New preprint: “Folk Thinking, Fast and Slow: Intuitive Preference for Deliberation in Humans and Machines”

Pop culture often praises intuition (“Blink”, Steve Jobs). But do we really trust it? Across 13 studies, we find a strong intuitive preference for deliberation.

tinyurl.com/8r54dmyn (1/6)

Short blog post about our work with Matthieu Raoelison & @wimdeneys.bsky.social for the Tango Horizon European project! 🧠🤖
👉 tango-horizon.eu/2025/01/16/h...

Yes it was great to see you and exchange at the conference!

The reasoning team from LaPsyDE in New York for the #SJDM & #Psychonomic conferences! @sjdm-tweets.bsky.social @psychonomicsociety.bsky.social
w/ @ninafraniatte.bsky.social @boissinesther.bsky.social @lauracharbit.bsky.social Matthieu Raoelison @jeremiebeucler.bsky.social & @wimdeneys.bsky.social

Very happy to have had the opportunity to present the work we conducted with Aikaterini Voudouri, @boissinesther.bsky.social and @wimdeneys.bsky.social at the 2024 International Conference on Thinking #ICT2024!
Many thanks to those who followed the session!