ReviewHealth psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2016
Using fuzzy-trace theory to understand and improve health judgments, decisions, and behaviors: A literature review.
Review in Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interactive Conversational Agents to Improve Dietary Behaviors for Health Promotion: Mixed Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- A Risk Education Program Decreases Leftover Prescription Opioid Retention: An RCT.American journal of preventive medicine · 2022Trial
- Enhancing risk perception may be insufficient to curtail prescription opioid use and misuse among youth after surgery: A randomized controlled trial.Patient education and counseling · 2022Trial
- When Does the Incremental Risk Format Aid Informed Medical Decisions? The Role of Learning, Feedback, and Number of Treatment Options.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2020Trial
- Perceptions of HPV-Linked Oropharyngeal Cancer Risk Messages Among a Sample of Young Adult Men in the US: A Pilot Study.American journal of men's healthTrial
- Framing a Consent Form to Improve Consent Understanding and Determine How This Affects Willingness to Participate in HIV Cure Research: An Experimental Survey Study.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRETrial
- Numeracy and recall of Alzheimer's disease risk information: Effects of risk format in a Latino community.Patient education and counseling · 2026Article
- Article
- Personalized feedback about immunity corrects risk misestimation and motivates vaccination.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Cognitive readiness of nurses regarding artificial intelligence predictions: understanding through the dual lens of verbatim and gist knowledge.JAMIA open · 2026Article
- A New Look at Vaccination Behaviors and Intentions: The Case of Influenza.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Using behavioural science to design public health social media campaigns.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Use and Usefulness of Risk Prediction Tools in Urologic Surgery: Current State and Path Forward.Urology practice · 2025Article
- Predicting User Engagement in Health Misinformation Correction on Social Media Platforms in Taiwan: Content Analysis and Text Mining Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Impact of expressive suppression on subthreshold depression among college students: a moderated mediation model.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Cognitive factors impacting patient understanding of laboratory test information.Journal of pathology informatics · 2024Review
- Dual-systems and Fuzzy-trace Theory Predictions of COVID-19 Risk Taking in Young Adults.Decision (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- Proneness to false memory generation predicts pseudoscientific belief endorsement.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2024Article
- Brief lifestyle advice in cardiac care: an experimental study on message source and framing.Netherlands heart journal : monthly journal of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology and the Netherlands Heart Foundation · 2024Article
- Reliability and Accuracy of YouTube Peri-Implantitis Videos as an Educational Source for Patients in Population-Based Prevention Strategies.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveFuzzy-trace theory is a dual-process model of memory, reasoning, judgment, and decision making that contrasts with traditional expectancy-value approaches. We review the literature applying fuzzy-trace theory to health with 3 aims: evaluating whether the theory's basic distinctions have been validated empirically in the domain of health; determining whether these distinctions are useful in assessing, explaining, and predicting health-related psychological processes; and determining whether the theory can be used to improve health judgments, decisions, or behaviors, especially compared to other approaches.
methodWe conducted a literature review using PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science to identify empirical peer-reviewed papers that applied fuzzy-trace theory, or central constructs of the theory, to investigate health judgments, decisions, or behaviors.
resultsSeventy nine studies (updated total is 94 studies; see Supplemental materials) were identified, over half published since 2012, spanning a wide variety of conditions and populations. Study findings supported the prediction that verbatim and gist representations are distinct constructs that can be retrieved independently using different cues. Although gist-based reasoning was usually associated with improved judgment and decision making, 4 sources of bias that can impair gist reasoning were identified. Finally, promising findings were reported from intervention studies that used fuzzy-trace theory to improve decision making and decrease unhealthy risk taking.
conclusionsDespite large gaps in the literature, most studies supported all 3 aims. By focusing on basic psychological processes that underlie judgment and decision making, fuzzy-trace theory provides insights into how individuals make decisions involving health risks and suggests innovative intervention approaches to improve health outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.