A promising overarching viewpoint: Reflexive versus reflective processes as two fundamental specialized brain-behaviour systems.

As I wrote in a previous post (Some strategic problems with the scientific endeavour) “A particular problem with respect to psychology, and perhaps to some other sciences, is that there is no general theory, to connect the latest advances in the many sub-disciplines of psychology...” However one such general approach was discussed briefly by Mathew Lieberman in 2007. He reviewed the long held view (e.g. Schneider and Shiffrin, 1977) that there are two “broad organizing principles of social cognition within the human brain...” each with a distinct underlying neural basis and evolutionary history:
Reflexive (the X system, x for the x in reflexive)
Reflective (the C system for the c in reflective)
Although Lieberman focussed on human cognition I feel these principles can be useful to understanding how information is processed and turned into adaptive behaviour in all sentient life forms.

Reflexive responding. We are responding reflexively when we quickly pull our hand from a hot stove. We don’t have to think about doing so, it just happens automatically, effortlessly, and with great speed. Such reflex actions can be highly adaptive and protect us from injury or even death. They are so adaptive in fact, that the neural circuits required for reflexes have evolved as innate genetic mechanisms in even the most primitive invertebrates and vertebrates .

Reflective behaviour. If the environment changes a lot or is relatively complex, a more flexible kind of responding became more adaptive than rigid reflexive action. It is in humans that a new type of responding called reflective responding evolved most highly although it is also present in non-human primates and arguably in other species. In the case of humans, we evolved in a complex society of cooperative hunting and gathering with lots of novel challenges. More flexible responding was required. Today, if we act automatically, without reflecting on the consequences of our actions, social or otherwise, we are likely to be ostracized by our social group or rejected by our mate. For our highly interdependent species, rejection is extremely dangerous not only to our happiness but to our physical health and even survival. Therefore we have evolved brain mechanisms to inhibit automatic responding if appropriate and instead respond more adaptively. The brain mechanism underlying reflective responding permitted the individual to tolerate some pain or to delay immediate gratification in order to obtain longer term goals.

An example of reflective responding is the situation in which we grasp a plate that is so hot it hurts us but we don’t drop it because it is loaded with our favourite food. We force ourselves to hold on to the plate long enough to put it down safely. This is a much more complicated process than reflexively just letting go of the hot plate; it requires us to inhibit the reflexive response and take time to think of a more suitable response and then with deliberation and effort to put the plate down safely.

Reflective responding also allows one to adapt in a much more flexible way when presented with a challenge of some kind. Hence reflective responding increases our problem solving ability in general. This aspect of reflective responding is at the heart of the higher more sophisticated kinds of responses humans can make. In future posts I will argue that such flexibility is intimately related to the evolution of the cerebral cortex.

An additional characteristic of reflective responding is that, in situations of high stress and arousal, it can be superseded by reflexive behaviour. An example of this is when humans in a theatre fire situation panic and stampede for the exit thereby perhaps injuring others as well as themselves. However awareness of this inhibiting effect of high stress on reflection can be used positively. For example, one way to increase reflective responding is to decrease stress and to increase positive affects such as feeling serene or grateful. This is likely the neuroscientific mechanism underlying some of the processes focussed on in positive psychology.

For information about how to utilize knowledge about the two systems to improve your interpersonal or social life I suggest two posts on my other blog called Psych-matters entitled “How to move yourself and others from reflexive to reflective responding. Part One.” and “Ten ways to improve your relationship by learning to respond reflectively” As Lieberman (2007) points out, one of the features that differentiates the reflexive from the reflective system is that the former acts in a relatively effortless manner while the latter requires significant effort (energy). In a previous post, "Some wild and crazy hypotheses", I proposed the hypothesis that “Evolution itself acts in accordance with the energy consideration...” such that energy is used efficiently. I believe that energy utilization is an important consideration in understanding the differences between the reflexive versus the reflective system and this will be the subject of a future post.


Lieberman, M. D. (2007). Social cognitive neuroscience: a review of core processes. Annual Review Psychology, 58, 259-289.

Schneider, W. & Shiffrin, R. M. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection, search, and attention. Psychological Review, 84, 1-66.


Copyright © 2008 Brian S. Scott