All articles tagged with #decision making
A study of professional chess games shows that, when objective difficulty is held constant, faster moves tend to be higher quality than slower ones. Longer thinking signals a perceived difficulty and can lead to worse decisions, whereas quick choices reflect intuition. The researchers suggest this speed–quality link, observed outside lab conditions via engine benchmarks, may apply to real-world high-stakes decision-making.
Waymo’s flooded-road incident shows a perception-to-action flaw: sensors clearly detected water and the car slowed, but the decision stack chose a risky continuation, prompting a recall of 3,791 vehicles while a permanent fix is developed. The piece contrasts sensor architectures across platforms (Tesla Vision, Uber Avride, Zoox) to illustrate how each handles water hazards and edge cases, underscoring that riders must know which system they’re on and whether flood-detection logic has been patched.
A UIUC study shows decision-making signals arise in early brain regions such as the primary somatosensory cortex and are shaped by rapid top-down feedback, challenging the traditional bottom-up view and suggesting future AI that uses bidirectional processing could be more efficient and intelligent.
A Tom’s Guide feature shows how three simple “system” prompts can elevate AI use from basic Q&A to structured thinking: a decision prompt to surface what truly matters when choosing between options, an execution prompt to convert ideas into a realistic, actionable plan, and a prioritization prompt to identify what to do, defer, or ignore. Used with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or other AI tools, these prompts reduce decision fatigue, boost productivity, and make AI act more like a strategic partner than a mere responder.
A Dresden University of Technology study analyzing over 700 participants across nine new tasks and six existing datasets finds that repeating past actions biases current decisions more strongly than explicit value reasoning. A hierarchical Bayesian reinforcement-learning model incorporating reward learning and action repetition outperformed alternatives, suggesting that some so-called irrational preferences arise from habit-like carryover rather than complex calculations, with implications for everyday habits and how environments shape choices.
In rats, heightened anterior insula activity just before choosing correlates with a bias toward alcohol over social rewards, revealing a neural mechanism that could explain the prioritization seen in alcohol use disorder and identifying the anterior insula as a potential target for interventions to restore balanced decision-making.
A large-scale study across nine new decision tasks and six datasets finds that people’s choices are driven more by repeating past actions than by evaluating outcomes. This repetition bias leads to context-dependent, seemingly irrational preferences, with repeatedly chosen options being rated as better later on. The effect persists even when better or equivalent options exist, indicating a mental shortcut that shapes everyday decisions and has implications for shopping and design. Breaking the cycle requires deliberate stop-and-think moments to override automatic habitual choices.
New Dartmouth-led research reframes the amygdala as a dynamic arbiter that toggles between action-based and stimulus-based learning under uncertainty, promoting flexible decision-making. When the amygdala is damaged, arbitration becomes random and behavior locks into rigid action-based patterns. The findings offer a potential path for treating phobias and anxiety by encouraging action-based exploration over stimulus-driven fear, and pave the way for further studies on how the amygdala coordinates with prefrontal circuits to guide learning.
A rat study from the University of Technology Sydney links inflammation in the striatum, driven by astrocytes, to more deliberate, goal-directed compulsive actions—challenging the view that compulsions are automatic habits and pointing to anti-inflammatory treatments as potential therapies.
A cross-sectional study of 87 participants, including healthy controls and individuals with bipolar disorder, found that bipolar patients who used cannabis moderately (about 4–24 times per week) showed better decision-making and functional skills—comparable to healthy non-users—whereas bipolar non-users tended to have deficits. In healthy adults, cannabis use impaired decision-making. Heavy use (25+ times/week) was linked to worse performance. The authors caution that the study shows association, not causation, and call for larger randomized trials to explore potential mechanisms (dopamine-related) and the balance of risks and benefits before clinical recommendations.
In a University of Zurich study, 44 volunteers received non-invasive electrical stimulation to the frontal and parietal brain areas while deciding how to split money. When stimulated simultaneously, participants showed a modest but consistent increase in generosity toward an anonymous partner, though effects were short-lived and would require repeated sessions for longer-term change. Researchers say this demonstrates a causal link between these networks and altruistic choices and could inform treatment of social-behavior disorders, with ethical safeguards in place.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to make critical decisions on Gaza, conscription, and judicial reforms amid upcoming elections, testing his usual strategy of delaying and outlasting adversaries.
The author reflects on her decision to consider a tummy tuck, her journey through health challenges, and her realization that she doesn't need to fix her body to feel worthy, embracing her scars and the life they've symbolized.
The most popular HBR articles of 2025 focus on AI, managing uncertainty, decision-making challenges, DEI, and strategic visualization, reflecting the year's overall theme of unpredictability and change.
Recent experiments demonstrate that chimpanzees are capable of rational thought, changing their beliefs based on new evidence, similar to humans.