Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.
Abstract
Evidence is reviewed which suggests that there may be little or no direct introspective access to higher order cognitive processes. Subjects are sometimes (a) unaware of the existence of a stimulus that importantly influenced a response, (b) unaware of the existence of the response, and (c) unaware that the stimulus has affected the response. It is proposed that when people attempt to report on their cognitive processes, that is, on the processes mediating the effects of a stimulus on a response, they do not do so on the basis of any true introspection. Instead, their reports are based on a priori, implicit causal theories, or judgments about the extent to which a particular stimulus is a plausible cause of a given response. This suggests that though people may not be able to observe directly their cognitive processes, they will sometimes be able to report accurately about them. Accurate reports will occur when influential stimuli are salient and are plausible causes of the responses they produce, and will not occur when stimuli are not salient or are not plausible causes.
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Human-written explanations can often be unfaithful accounts of individuals' cognitive processes.
“they can also often be unfaithful accounts of individuals' cognitive processes (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977).”
From Language Models Don't Always Say What They Think: Unfaithful Explanations in Chain-of-Thought Prompting (2023) · cites this paper as Nisbett and Wilson, 1977
One often is not aware of why one loves, hates, likes, or dislikes.
“One often is not aware of why one loves, hates, likes, or dislikes (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977; Wilson, 2002).”
From Impulsive action: emotional impulses and their control (2014) · cites this paper as Nisbett and Wilson, 1977
Adolescent samples may be likely to underreport mental health symptoms.
“In addition, adolescent samples may be likely to underreport mental health symptoms [48,49]”
From Feasibility and effectiveness of a web-based positive psychology program for youth mental health: Randomized controlled trial (2014) · cites this paper as [49]
The extent to which people have introspective access to psychological processes has been disputed.
“the extent to which people have introspective access to psychological processes has been disputed”
From Unawareness of Attitudes, Their Environmental Causes, and Their Behavioral Effects (2025) · cites this paper as Nisbett & Wilson 1977
Many top-down influences occur automatically and without awareness.
“It is also important to emphasize that many of these top-down influences occur automatically and without awareness (Kunda, 1990; Nickerson, 1998; Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; Wilson & Brekke, 1994).”
From Biased and biasing: the hidden bias cascade and bias snowball effects (2025) · cites this paper as Nisbett & Wilson, 1977
Individuals may be unable to infer cognitive processes such as executive function.
“they may be unable to infer cognitive processes such as EF (Nisbett and Wilson 1977)”
From Executive Function Deficits in Daily Life Prospectively Predict Increases in Depressive Symptoms (2014) · cites this paper as Nisbett and Wilson 1977
People may prefer TRI due to social convention, using it because others seem to use it or because they are accustomed to relying on it.
“They may, nonetheless, prefer TRI due to social convention (i.e. they use it because others seem to use it [57] or because they are accustomed to relying on it [58]).”
From Digital Identity: The effect of trust and reputation information on user judgement in the Sharing Economy (2018) · cites this paper as [57]
Considerable experimental evidence indicates that some features of human emotion and motivation cannot be accessed well via introspection or described in subjective reports.
“Considerable experimental evidence indicates that some features of human emotion and motivation cannot actually be accessed well via introspection or described in subjective reports (Nisbett and Wilson, 1978; Wilson and Schooler, 1991; Schwarz, 1999; Dijksterhuis et al., 2006; Schooler and Mauss, 2010; Greenwald and Banaji, 2017; Torre and Lieberman, 2018).”
From Evolving Concepts of Emotion and Motivation (2018) · cites this paper as Nisbett and Wilson, 1978
Perceived transparency of human decision-making stems from a belief that introspection provides direct access to psychological processes.
“The perceived transparency of human decision-making stems from a belief that introspection provides direct access into the psychological processes by which people make decisions 17 .”
From Understanding, explaining, and utilizing medical artificial intelligence (2021) · cites this paper as [17]
Because self-reports can diverge from underlying cognitive processes, the awareness-calibration analyses are interpreted as complementary indicators of monitoring correspondence rather than proof of a unitary metacognitive-dependence construct.
“Because selfreports can diverge from underlying cognitive processes (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977), these analyses are interpreted as complementary indicators of monitoring correspondence rather than proof of a unitary metacognitive-dependence construct.”
From College students' metacognitive awareness of generative-AI reliance: an experimental study of decision confidence and attribution bias (2026) · cites this paper as Nisbett and Wilson, 1977
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Locke, E. A., Shaw, K. N., Saari, L. M., & Latham, G. P. (1981) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.90.1.125 · Cited by 2,656 · see citing works
“…to limitations in introspective ability, most (untrained) subjects may not be able to discriminate small differences in psychological commitment (see Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; but see also Lieberman, 1979, LOCKE, SHAW, SAARI, AND LATHAM for a more sanguine view of the usefulness of introspection).”
BackgroundInvestor Psychology and Asset Pricing
Hirshleifer, D. A. (2001) · The Journal of Finance · doi:10.1111/0022-1082.00379 · Cited by 2,358 · see citing works
The New Synthesis in Moral Psychology
Haidt, J. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1137651 · Cited by 2,397 · see citing works
Slovic, P., Finucane, M., Peters, E., & MacGregor, D. G. (2002) · Heuristics and Biases · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.025 · Cited by 2,349 · see citing works
Relations among emotion, appraisal, and emotional action readiness
Frijda, N. H., Kuipers, P., & ter Schure, E. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.2.212 · Cited by 2,379 · see citing works
“Clinical versus Actuarial Judgment.”
Dawes, R. M., Faust, D., & Meehl, P. E. (1989) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.2648573 · Cited by 2,298 · see citing works
Glaeser, E. L., Laibson, D., Scheinkman, J. A., & Soutter, C. L. (2000) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355300554926 · Cited by 2,211 · see citing works
Amabile, T. M., Barsade, S. G., Mueller, J. S., & Staw, B. M. (2005) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2189/asqu.2005.50.3.367 · Cited by 2,208 · see citing works
Neuroeconomics: How Neuroscience Can Inform Economics
Camerer, C. F., Loewenstein, G. F., & Prelec, D. (2005) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/0022051053737843 · Cited by 2,146 · see citing works
“…are caused by prior neural events which are inaccessible to consciousness (see Daniel Wegner and Thalia Wheatley 1999).17 Quadrant I tends to explain behavior egocentrically—to attribute it to the types of deliberative processes that it is responsible for (see Richard Nisbett and Wilson 1977).”
How to improve Bayesian reasoning without instruction: Frequency formats.
Gigerenzer, G., & Hoffrage, U. (1995) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.102.4.684 · Cited by 2,128 · see citing works
“…verbal reports: that memory of the cognitive algorithms used may have faded by the time of a retrospective report (Ericsson & Simon, 1984) and that participants may have reported how they believe they ought to have thought rather than how they actually thought (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977).”
Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W. (2006) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.946 · Cited by 2,067 · see citing works
Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making
Shiv, B., & Fedorikhin, A. (1999) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/209563 · Cited by 2,044 · see citing works
Reflections on Past Behavior: A Self‐Report Index of Habit Strength <sup>1</sup>
Verplanken, B., & Orbell, S. (2003) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01951.x · Cited by 2,030 · see citing works
Consensus development methods, and their use in clinical guideline development.
Murphy, M., Black, Lamping, McKee, M., Sanderson, Askham, & Marteau (1998) · Health Technology Assessment · doi:10.3310/hta2030 · Cited by 2,042 · see citing works
Sears, D. O. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.3.515 · Cited by 2,138 · see citing works
Measurement of Situation Awareness in Dynamic Systems
Endsley, M. R. (1995) · Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1518/001872095779049499 · Cited by 2,039 · see citing works
“est and the administration of the questionnaire (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977).”
BackgroundInfluentialWilson, T. D., Lindsey, S., & Schooler, T. Y. (2000) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.107.1.101 · Cited by 2,112 · see citing works
Self-citationNon‐formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work
Eraut, M. R. (2000) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1348/000709900158001 · Cited by 2,018 · see citing works
“…tracts of taken-for-granted information will normally be excluded, their attention when performing will not be focused on remembering current action but deciding what to do next, accounts will be tidied up and subject to post-hoc rationalisation, etc. (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; Tomlinson, 1999).”
BackgroundImplicit Learning and Tacit Knowledge
Reber, A. S. (2003) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/2834.003.0047 · Cited by 2,013 · see citing works
Intuitive ethics: how innately prepared intuitions generate culturally variable virtues
Haidt, J., & Joseph, C. (2004) · Daedalus · doi:10.1162/0011526042365555 · Cited by 1,982 · see citing works
The functions of deliberate self-injury: a review of the evidence
Klonsky, E. D. (2007) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.08.002 · Cited by 1,979 · see citing works
“Verbal reports of mental processes are often invalid ( Nisbett & Wilson, 1977 ).”
BackgroundInfluentialHow (and where) does moral judgment work?
Greene, J., & Haidt, J. (2002) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(02)02011-9 · Cited by 1,945 · see citing works
“... on quick, automatic affective reactions is supported by recent findings in social psychology, such as: (1) that people evaluate others and apply morally laden stereotypes automatically [9]; (2) that motivations to maintain relationships and defend against threatening ideas bias judgments and motivate subsequent re…”
ResultFood reward: brain substrates of wanting and liking
Berridge, K. C. (1996) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/0149-7634(95)00033-b · Cited by 1,901 · see citing works
Attribution theory and research
Kelley, H. H., & Michela, J. L. (1980) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.31.020180.002325 · Cited by 2,651 · see citing works
The weighing of evidence and the determinants of confidence
Griffin, D. W., & Tversky, A. (1992) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(92)90013-r · Cited by 1,712 · see citing works
Belief and feeling: Evidence for an accessibility model of emotional self-report.
Robinson, M. D., & Clore, G. L. (2002) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.6.934 · Cited by 1,806 · see citing works
“Thus, Maier (1931) argued that people do not have privileged access to the causes of their problem-solving behavior, and Nisbett and Wilson (1977) concluded that such a lack of access can be found in many domains.”
BackgroundRepresentativeness revisited: Attribute substitution in intuitive judgment.
Kahneman, D., & Frederick, S. (2002) · Heuristics and Biases · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.004 · Cited by 3,476 · see citing works
Emotional expressions reconsidered: Challenges to inferring emotion from human facial movements
Barrett, L. F., Adolphs, R., Marsella, S., Martinez, A. M., & Pollak, S. D. (2019) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1177/1529100619832930 · Cited by 1,748 · see citing works
Fázio, R. H., Jackson, J. R., Dunton, B. C., & Williams, C. (1995) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.69.6.1013 · Cited by 2,342 · see citing works
Quantifying Qualitative Analyses of Verbal Data: A Practical Guide
Michelene, T. H. (1997) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1207/s15327809jls0603_1 · Cited by 1,765 · see citing works
Graham, J., Haidt, J., Koleva, S. P., Motyl, M. S., Iyer, R., Wojcik, S. P., & Ditto, P. H. (2013) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-407236-7.00002-4 · Cited by 1,815 · see citing works
The development of achievement task values: A theoretical analysis
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (1992) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/0273-2297(92)90011-p · Cited by 1,717 · see citing works
Behavioral Decision Theory: Processes of Judgement and Choice
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A Framework for Market-Based Organizational Learning: Linking Values, Knowledge, and Behavior
Sinkula, J. M., Baker, W. E., & Noordewier, T. G. (1997) · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · doi:10.1177/0092070397254003 · Cited by 1,686 · see citing works
Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Funder, D. C. (2007) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00051.x · Cited by 1,629 · see citing works
“Nisbett and Wilson (1977) thought they had discredited introspection back in the 1970s, when they demonstrated that the factors that drive behavior are often invisible to the people who perform it.”
BackgroundResultLegitimacy and Authority in International Politics
Hurd, I. (1999) · International Organization · doi:10.1162/002081899550913 · Cited by 1,631 · see citing works
Research synthesis: the practice of cognitive interviewing
Beatty, P. C., & Willis, G. B. (2007) · Public Opinion Quarterly · doi:10.1093/poq/nfm006 · Cited by 1,615 · see citing works
Nock, M. K. (2010) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131258 · Cited by 1,550 · see citing works
Relation of implicit theories to the construction of personal histories.
Ross, M. (1989) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.96.2.341 · Cited by 1,570 · see citing works
A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept.
Greenwald, A. G., Banaji, M. R., Rudman, L. A., Farnham, S. D., Nosek, B. A., & Mellott, D. S. (2002) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.109.1.3 · Cited by 1,559 · see citing works
“Complementing these empirical attacks on self-report measures, Nisbett and Wilson (1977) offered a theoretical and methodological critique of the flawed introspectionism of self-report methods.”
BackgroundA review of research on teacher beliefs and practices
Fang, Z. (1996) · Educational Research · doi:10.1080/0013188960380104 · Cited by 1,558 · see citing works
Case Research in Marketing: Opportunities, Problems, and a Process
Bonoma, T. V. (1985) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1177/002224378502200209 · Cited by 1,557 · see citing works
A cognitive model of drug urges and drug-use behavior: role of automatic and nonautomatic processes
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Self-Confidence and Personal Motivation
Bénabou, R., & Jean Tirole, Z. (2002) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355302760193913 · Cited by 1,510 · see citing works
“The psychology literature generally views introspection as quite inaccurate [Nisbett and Wilson 1977], and stresses that learning about oneself is an ongoing process.”
BackgroundThe halo effect: Evidence for unconscious alteration of judgments.
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Causal explanations as a risk factor for depression: Theory and evidence.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1984) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.91.3.347 · Cited by 1,500 · see citing works
Metamemory: A Theoretical Framework and New Findings
Nelson, T. O. (1990) · Psychology of Learning and Motivation · doi:10.1016/s0079-7421(08)60053-5 · Cited by 2,583 · see citing works
A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface.
Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.114.4.843 · Cited by 1,470 · see citing works
“Specifically, people often have limited introspective access to the causes of their thoughts and behavior ( Nisbett & Wilson, 1977 ).”
BackgroundGaze and eye contact: a research review
Kleinke, C. L. (1986) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.100.1.78 · Cited by 1,455 · see citing works
Incentive-sensitization and addiction
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Shafir, E. (1993) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/0010-0277(93)90034-s · Cited by 1,453 · see citing works
“As has been amply documented (e.g., Nisbett & Wilson, 1977), subjects are sometimes unaware of the precise factors that determine their choices, and generate spurious explanations when asked to account for their decisions.”
Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance
Nelson, T. E., Clawson, R. A., & Oxley, Z. M. (1997) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.2307/2952075 · Cited by 1,422 · see citing works
Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions.
Wilson, T. D., & Schooler, J. W. (1991) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.60.2.181 · Cited by 1,397 · see citing works
Self-citationOrganizational routines are stored as procedural memory: Evidence from a laboratory study
Cohen, M. D., & Bacdayan, P. (1994) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.5.4.554 · Cited by 1,393 · see citing works
Champions of Technological Innovation
Howell, J. M., & Higgins, C. A. (1990) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2393393 · Cited by 1,410 · see citing works
Venkatesh, V., & Brown, S. A. (2001) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3250959 · Cited by 1,400 · see citing works
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Kihlstrom, J. F. (1987) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.3629249 · Cited by 1,405 · see citing works
- Authors
- Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D.
- ORCID
- Wilson, Timothy D.
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 1977-05
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 231-259
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W2164558494
- Cited by
- 11,317
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 297 · 2025: 273 · 2024: 198 · 2023: 373 · 2022: 260 · 2021: 346 · 2020: 432 · 2019: 492 · 2018: 345 · 2017: 335 · 2016: 334 · 2015: 360 · 2014: 333 · 2013: 323 · 2012: 362
- FWCI
- 129.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Cognitive Science and Education Research
- Keywords
- self-reflection, introspective access, causal judgment, salience, higher-order cognition
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