Research on how people make decisions. Covers workplace food choices, medication risk trade-offs, and treatment selection in mental health.
A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that people who believe the world is a just place trust salespeople more after making a purchase. The authors examined how consumers balance trust and protecting themselves from bad decisions, finding that optimism plays a crucial role in this process.
Researchers found that consumers who feel financially deprived prefer scarce products over abundant ones. Financial deprivation prompts heightened visual sensitivity to scarce goods, influencing purchasing decisions.
A study found that over 10 years, 30.8% of women had diagnostic mammograms, while 61.5% underwent ipsilateral invasive procedures following BCS. The high rates may be due to concerns about recurrence, and the authors highlight the need for better prognostic biomarkers to minimize overtreatment.
A report by Arizona State University found that existing US laws offer numerous opportunities to incorporate health impact assessments (HIAs) in various sectors such as transportation, energy, and agriculture. HIAs can help decision makers identify and address potential health risks and benefits of their decisions.
A new study found that dogs who have 'run out' of self-control make more impulsive decisions, increasing their risk of physical harm. In the experiment, dogs with depleted self-control spent more time near an aggressive dog than those without depleted self-control.
The University of Chicago Medicine will launch a new program to study the role of spirituality in medical practice and education, with a focus on how a physician's personal beliefs inform their professional life. The Faculty Scholars program aims to train junior faculty to conduct research on this topic.
Researchers at University of Missouri and Oregon found that consumers often unintentionally buy products with animal testing due to lack of clear definitions. This ambiguity leads to deceptive advertising, making it difficult for consumers to make informed moral decisions.
Researchers found that humans can only monitor up to three strategies while making decisions, and creativity is favored over reliable options. The frontal lobe plays a crucial role in this process, with individual differences in performance linked to variations in creative ability.
New studies reveal lower fetal/infant death risks among planned repeat caesarean sections, while higher uterine rupture risk found in women with multiple previous caesarean sections. Research emphasizes pragmatic studies to improve maternal and infant care.
The article discusses the importance of researching health systems interventions and assessing the reliability of evidence. The authors argue that useful tools are available to evaluate effectiveness, but more work is needed to assess other key factors such as policy acceptability and implementation feasibility.
A study by Professor Nick Gallent found that communities are 'hopeful bystanders' rather than contributors to planning decisions, citing lack of investment in building relationships and inadequate protocol support. The research highlights the need for a more responsive approach to community input in local planning.
Princeton scientists have identified unique neural activity sequences in the brain's posterior parietal cortex that help form short-term memories used for decision-making. These sequences correspond to whether a mouse turns left or right in a maze, allowing researchers to predict its future actions.
Researchers found that brains use a simplistic strategy to filter out options, leading to poor choices and potentially contributing to depression. The study suggests a link between this 'pruning' bias and brain chemical serotonin, which is involved in both avoidance and depression.
A new study published in PLOS Computational Biology found that our brains use a simplistic strategy to filter out options when faced with complex decisions, leading to poor choices. The researchers also linked this 'pruning' decision-making bias to depressive symptoms, suggesting a possible connection between the two.
A Seminar published in The Lancet calls for improved long-term monitoring of knee replacement implant outcomes using national registries. This will provide patients and surgeons with high-quality evidence to assess different implants and techniques, ultimately enhancing clinical decision-making.
A new study from Case Western Reserve University highlights the importance of discussing quality of life with critically ill patients. The researchers found that many family meetings lacked essential information about a patient's desired quality of life, making it difficult for decision-makers to make informed choices.
A recent study by Mitchell S. McKinney and J. Brian Houston found that voters are more likely to see a candidate's viability as a key factor in making their decision, rather than electability. This focus on party viability may explain why some Republican candidates struggle to gain traction despite strong debate performances.
A study found that obstetricians' approaches to managing periviable deliveries vary widely, with many prioritizing patient preference over evidence-based guidelines. The authors recommend improving communication of uncertainty and managing patient expectations to provide more patient-centered care.
A recent study by USC Marshall professor Nathanael Fast and colleagues found that unconstrained power can lead to overconfident decision-making. In experiments, participants who felt powerful made riskier bets, losing money, whereas those who didn't feel powerful were less risky and did not lose.
Research shows that stress changes how people weigh risk and reward, leading to a greater emphasis on the upside of possible outcomes. This can impact decision-making in various areas, including job choices and addiction. Additionally, stress affects how men and women perceive risk differently.
A Rhode Island Hospital study found that presentation formats, presenter characteristics, and patient characteristics significantly impact decision-making for patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. The study showed that qualitative formats without numbers or statistics led to higher surgery choices, while younger age, male gender...
Researchers found that Phoenix's water problems are a demand problem, not a supply problem. Higher urban densities, slower growth, and fewer backyard swimming pools can reduce the risk of future shortages.
A two-part special issue of the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making is available online, highlighting recent CEDM-related research and practice in various application domains. The issue features articles on psychological principles, human-technology interactions, and cognitive engineering methodological enhancements.
A new study by Oregon State University found that half of young adult Latino men and women acknowledge not using regular effective contraception despite expressing a desire to avoid pregnancy. Involvement in sexual decision-making is crucial for contraception use, with those who are more active tend to use male condoms.
A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that creating psychological distance can reduce cognitive difficulty and anxiety in choice situations. By manipulating abstract thinking and body postures, researchers discovered that leaning away from a screen or task can make decisions feel less difficult.
Studies show that people's preferences for things on the same side as their dominant hand affect abstract evaluations, such as value and intelligence. This phenomenon, known as the body-specificity hypothesis, highlights how our bodies influence our minds.
A new study by Tufts Medical Center researchers provides insight into factors affecting Medicare decisions on medical technology coverage. The study shows that CMS uses clinical evidence to inform its 'reasonable and necessary' criteria, with alternative therapies influencing coverage decisions.
Researchers studied physician approaches to palliative sedation, finding some use mild sedation gradually deepening as needed while others opt for deeper sedation from the start. Patient preferences, communication needs, and fear of awakening influence sedation choice.
Researchers found that even with explicit knowledge of probabilities, people tend to make suboptimal choices when relying on experience-based estimates. Despite extensive practice, participants in the study made similar mistakes as those without any training, suggesting a distorted appreciation of probability remains.
A new study examines how numerate individuals process information differently, leading to more informed decisions. People who are numerate are less influenced by other information and see numbers as abstract symbols, allowing them to make better choices.
Researchers analyzed how name pronunciation affects impression formation and decision-making, finding that people with easy-to-pronounce names are more likely to be favored for promotions and jobs. The study's results have important implications for understanding and managing bias in society.
A study published in the journal Neuron reveals that individuals with strategic decision-making skills, known as 'explorers,' use a specific region of the prefrontal cortex to calculate relative uncertainty. This brain area is not active in non-explorers, suggesting a specialized cognitive process for making uncertain decisions.
A multi-center study, DECIDE, aims to improve end-of-life decision making amongst hospital-based physicians and nurses. The study will assess processes for improving communication and explore staff views on fulfilling care goals with seriously ill patients and their families.
The article proposes a more personalized approach to ICD replacement, taking into account each patient's unique circumstances, such as the risk of inappropriate shocks and personal preferences for end-of-life care. A shift in focus towards individualized decision-making could lead to more informed and cost-effective treatment.
A study found that consumers generally prefer more precise or granular information when making decisions. In product descriptions, choosing fine-grained units like '28 minutes' instead of coarse terms like 'half an hour' influences consumer perceptions.
Researchers found increased brain cell activity in adolescent rats in an unusual area called the dorsal striatum, associated with habit formation and decision-making. This suggests that adolescents may be more susceptible to developing disorders like addiction and depression due to their unique brain response to reward.
A new study compares brain activity in adolescents with and without a family history of alcoholism, finding that those at risk for alcohol use disorder show weaker activation in key brain regions. This suggests an increased vulnerability to poor decision-making regarding future alcohol use.
The Mission-Focused Autonomy (MFA) program utilizes collaborative tools to share information from government databases, supporting law enforcement efforts on foreign nationals intent on harming national security. MFA speeds up decision-making by providing timely and accurate information, enabling more effective allocation of assets.
A review of 16 prognostic indices found that none were free from potential bias and only two were independently validated. The study highlights the need for further research on the quality and limitations of these indices before they can be recommended for routine use in clinical practice.
A study found that early-stage breast cancer patients often lacked knowledge about their disease and were not meaningfully involved in treatment discussions. This can lead to treatments not aligning with patient preferences, highlighting the need for improvements in the surgical decision-making process.
Research reveals that great apes like chimpanzees and orangutans use complex decision-making strategies to weigh risks and rewards. The study found that the apes chose the smaller piece more often when uncertain, suggesting a sophisticated understanding of probability and risk assessment.
Research suggests that people's gut feelings are not entirely disregarded logic, but rather an intuitive sense of conflict. Wim De Neys' study found that brain activity indicates a 'sense of something fishy' when people make decisions, highlighting the importance of logical intuitions in decision-making.
Research suggests that older adults can be trained to respond faster without compromising accuracy, indicating their cognitive skills are not as impaired as previously thought. In contrast, younger children exhibit slower response times and poorer accuracy compared to adults, improving with age. The study's findings challenge the preva...
A new science rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of team training in improving safety, decision-making, and communication. The study shows that training can produce results and improve clinical outcomes.
A Florida State University study reveals that maximizing, or second-guessing, decision-making leads to reduced satisfaction with choices. Maximizers tend to obsess over decisions and then fret about their choices later, resulting in less commitment and happiness.
Researchers found that swarms of bees can inhibit rival nest sites through a 'stop signal' behavior, preventing indecision and promoting efficient nesting choices. This behavior is similar to how humans make decisions, with individual bees targeting their stop signals only at rivals within the colony.
A Virginia Tech-led study found that family perspectives are crucial in evacuation planning, with immigrant mothers being particularly vulnerable. The research integrated social science and transportation engineering approaches to model household decision-making and interactions during evacuations.
A new study reveals that bee swarms use inhibitory 'stop signals' to inhibit competing sites and choose the best option, similar to how neurons in human brains make decisions. This mechanism helps avoid costly dithering and ensures a single site is chosen.
A new study published in Psychological Science found that people with poor credit scores are more impatient and prefer shorter-term gains over longer-term benefits. This impulsivity can lead to strategic defaulting on loans, as individuals weigh the costs of delayed gratification against short-term benefits.
A study published in Liver Transplantation reveals that liver transplant candidates prioritize 'best quality' organs over those with a higher risk of failure. The study found that patients prefer to have an equal or dominant role in deciding organ acceptance, and presenting organ quality as 'average quality' can increase risk tolerance.
Researchers found that experienced physicians who focused on failure learning more effectively than those who relied solely on success. The study used fMRI to analyze brain activity of 35 physicians as they made decisions, revealing a clear difference in mental processes between high and low performers.
A new study found that conscious awareness influences information processing during decision making, leading to non-linear integration strategies. Participants who were aware of the evidence weighted new information based on their existing knowledge.
A commentary by Michael Stefanek advocates for cancer screening reform to educate the public about potential harms and benefits. Conflicting guidelines and new technologies may lead to overtreatment or under-treatment, and false positives and negatives are a concern.
A new report by the Royal Society of Canada advocates for decriminalizing assisted dying in Canada to address inadequate end-of-life planning and care. The report found that most Canadians want to die at home but few do, highlighting the need for better planning and policies.
A study by McMaster University researchers found that voters tend to prefer candidates with lower-pitched voices, perceiving them as more attractive and dominant. This preference is related to the cue of dominance, which has been an important factor in human leadership throughout evolution.
A study found that subtly manipulating body posture influences people's estimates of quantities such as sizes, numbers, or percentages. Participants who leaned left estimated lower quantities, while those who stood upright gave more accurate estimates.
A recent study by researchers at Rice University finds that people participating in online communities tend to make riskier financial decisions. This is attributed to the false assumption that fellow community members will come to their aid when needed.
Researchers identified the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex as key players in impaired decision making, leading to addictive and compulsive behavior. The study's findings may pave the way for more targeted treatments for substance abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Researchers have successfully measured dopamine release in a human brain, tracking its movement between brain cells while a subject makes decisions. The study provides preliminary evidence that dopamine can predict future market changes.
The US FDA lacks transparency in its food additive regulatory program, with manufacturers making safety decisions without public review. The Pew Health Group's analysis highlights the need for improved public participation and science-based decision-making to protect consumers from potential hazards.