Tag

Decision Making

All articles tagged with #decision making

cognitive-science5 days ago•25 min saved

Mind’s prime appears in late midlife, study suggests

A new analysis combining nine cognitive and personality domains finds that overall psychological functioning peaks in late midlife (around ages 55–60 in the comprehensive model, with a similar peak near 60 in the conventional model). While raw processing speed and certain cognitive functions decline with age, crystallized knowledge, conscientiousness, emotional stability, emotional intelligence, moral reasoning, and financial literacy can continue to improve, enabling older adults to maintain high functional capacity even as some abilities wane. The study cautions that cross‑sectional Western data limit universal conclusions and notes implications for leadership and policy roles, where midlife readiness may trump youth or old age, though more longitudinal and non‑Western research is needed.

via PsyPost|

#aging #cognitive-science #decision-making

science7 days ago•6 min saved

AI Decodes Why We Decide: LLMs Map Verbal Reasoning to Actions

Researchers combine fine-tuned large language models with formal choice mathematics to analyze thousands of participants’ free-text rationales for gambling decisions. The LLMs classify reasons (e.g., maximax vs. loss aversion) and are validated by comparing the text-derived motives with the actual choices, yielding about 95% alignment. The study shows that people’s decision strategies adapt to how a problem is framed, and presents a scalable framework for analyzing verbal reports that could inform public policy and complex real-world decision making.

via Neuroscience News|

#behavioral-economics #decision-making #llms

science12 days ago•7 min saved

Exhale Slowly, Decide Boldly: Breath Controls Brain Rewards

A Neuron study shows that consciously extending the exhale increases heart-rate variability and boosts reward-related brain activity, making people more likely to take risks. Brain regions like the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and precuneus showed greater activation, linking bodily state to decision-making. The findings suggest simple breathing techniques could aid self-regulation and have potential clinical use for anxiety, depression, and eating behavior.

via SciTechDaily|

#breathwork #decision-making #neuroimaging

mental-health24 days ago•27 min saved

Three-minute smartphone game reveals rigid reward expectations in depression

A NYU Langone Health study published in PNAS shows that people with major depressive disorder hold a higher internal baseline for rewards and are less able to adapt their expectations when rewards change. In a three-minute smartphone game, depressed participants stopped harvesting a depleting tree earlier (after about eight to nine apples) than healthy controls, indicating a higher decisional reference point. A second task revealed that depressed individuals showed inflexibility in adjusting their willingness to pay after environmental adaptation. The findings offer a potential remote-measurement tool for depression and point to a cognitive mechanism that could become a therapeutic target, though subtypes and broader applicability require further research.

via PsyPost|

#anhedonia #decision-making #depression

science1 month ago•7 min saved

Brainless Slime Molds Decide by Fluid Flows, Not Brains

Researchers show that the brainless slime mold Physarum polycephalum makes decisions through mechanical means—rhythmic contractions driving cytoplasmic flows—allowing it to adapt and escape blue-light traps. In experiments with shaped light barriers, the organism followed the longest axis and reconfigured its mass to move, illustrating decentralized, non-neural decision-making and shedding light on how such systems optimize behavior without a nervous system.

via ScienceAlert|

#cytoplasmic-streaming #decision-making #peristaltic-contractions

neuroscience1 month ago•9 min saved

Decision-Making Emerges from Sensorimotor Loops, Not a Central Brain Center

A new study argues there is no discrete neural 'decision center' in the brain; instead, intentional-looking behavior arises from the simultaneous interaction of sensory, sensorimotor, and motor processes, challenging the linear 'sandwich' model and the Cartesian Theater. The paper uses analogies to nonphysical decisions and a simple wall-following robot to illustrate how decisions can appear purposeful without a central controller, and calls for embodied, ecological approaches to studying decision-making.

via Neuroscience News|

#cognitive-science #decision-making #embodied-cognition

science-neuroscience1 month ago•4 min saved

Free and Forced Decisions Share the Same Brain Evidence Path

A new Imaging Neuroscience study finds that voluntary and forced choices unfold through remarkably similar evidence-accumulation processes in the brain: neural signals ramp up before a decision, with faster ramps for quick choices and slower ramps for slower ones, suggesting our brains weigh internal preferences and goals in the same automatic way across decision types, challenging simple notions of free will.

via SciTechDaily|

#brain-activity #decision-making #evidence-accumulation

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Speed Beats Prolonged Thinking in Chess, Study Finds

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.

via Neuroscience News|

#chess #cognition #decision-making

technology1 month ago•5 min saved

Floods Reveal a Hidden Flaw in Self-Driving 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.

via Yanko Design|

#autonomous-vehicles #decision-making #perception

science2 months ago•6 min saved

Decision-Making Begins in Early Brain Layers, Redefining AI's Playbook

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.

via Neuroscience News|

#ai #brain #decision-making

technology3 months ago•72 min saved

Three system prompts that turn AI into a thinking partner

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.

via Tom's Guide|

#ai #chatgpt #decision-making

psychology3 months ago•5 min saved

Repeating Past Actions Biases Future Choices More Than Logic

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.

via SciTechDaily|

#context-dependent #decision-making #habits

science4 months ago•4 min saved

Anterior Insula Bias Pushes Rats Toward Alcohol Over Social Rewards

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.

via Neuroscience News|

#addiction #alcohol-use-disorder #anterior-insula

science4 months ago•4 min saved

Habit Over Value: Repetition Shapes Our Choices Across Contexts

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.

via Neuroscience News|

#cognitive-bias #decision-making #habit

science4 months ago•7 min saved

Amygdala Shifts Between Learning Strategies to Enable Flexible 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.

via Neuroscience News|

#amygdala #arbitration #decision-making