10. Decision Making

• Decision making


  The process of making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions
• Decision making (in psychology)


  The cognitive, emotional and social processes involved in selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives
• Decision making can be either rational or irrational
• Decision making encompasses various factors such as perception, memory, reasoning, intelligence and emotions which influence how individuals make choices
• Decision making


  The process of choosing actions that are directed towards the resolution. It is at the core of planning
• Decision making (cognitive processes)


  • Perception
  • Attention
  • Memory
  • Reasoning
  • Judgment
• Emotions in decision making


  • Influence preferences
  • Influence risk perception
  • Influence evaluation of outcomes
• Emotions in decision making


  • Positive emotions can lead to more risk taking behavior
  • Negative emotions may promote risk aversion
• Social factors in decision making


  • Social norms
  • Conformity
  • Peer pressure
  • Social comparison
• Conformity


  Individuals adapt the attitudes or behaviors of others, even if those decisions differ from their individual preferences
• Biases and heuristics in decision making


  • Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that simplify the decision making process but can lead to errors in judgment
• Single-Feature Model


  Making a decision based only on one thing
• Additive Feature Model


  Looking at all the important things about choices and carefully comparing them
• Elimination by Aspects Model


  Looking at each option and judging them one thing at a time, starting with what is most important. Removing options that don't meet the criteria until only one remains
• Rational Decision-Making Model


  Outlines steps that decision makers can follow to improve the quality of their decisions
• Bounded Rationality Model


  Acknowledges that decision-making abilities have limits. People intentionally narrow down their options to a manageable few and choose the first one that meets their minimum requirements
• Satisficing


  Settling for an option that's good enough rather than the absolute best
• Intuitive decision-making


  Reaching conclusions without consciously thinking through every step
• Creative Decision-Making


  • Problem identification
  • Immersion
  • Incubation
  • Illumination
• Decision making in psychology involves the integration of cognitive, emotional and social factors to select a course of action from among competing alternatives
• Impulsive decision making


  Making choices without fully considering the consequences of alternatives
• Group decision making


  Multiple individuals participate in the decision making process, involving collaboration, discussion and consensus-building
• Procedural decision making


  Following predetermined procedures, rules or algorithms to make decisions
• Normative decision making


  Making choices based on societal norms, values or ethical principles
• Availability Heuristic


  Judging how likely something is based on how easily we can remember similar things happening before
• Representativeness Heuristic


  Assessing the likelihood of an event by comparing it to a prototype or typical example
• Factors affecting decision making


  • Cognitive biases
  • Emotions
  • Heuristics
  • Risk perception
• Cognitive biases


  Systematic patterns of deviation from rationality in judgment, where individuals create their own "subjective reality" based on their perception of information
• Examples of cognitive biases

  • Confirmation bias
  • Anchoring bias
• Heuristics


  Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that simplify decision making but can lead to errors
• Examples of heuristics


  • Availability heuristic
  • Representativeness heuristic
• Biases and heuristics


  • Decision-makers may be influenced by cognitive biases or rely on mental shortcuts (heuristics) that lead to irrational or suboptimal decisions
• Emotions


  • Emotions can cloud judgment and lead to decisions based on feelings rather than logic, especially in high-stakes or emotionally charged situations
• Groupthink


  • In group decision-making, the desire for harmony or conformity within the group can result in decisions that overlook alternative perspectives or critical analysis
• Overconfidence


  • Decision-makers may overestimate their own abilities or the accuracy of their judgments, leading to risky or overly optimistic decisions
• Risk aversion or seeking


  • Individuals may exhibit either risk aversion (avoiding risks at all costs) or risk-seeking behavior (taking unnecessary risks), depending on their personality or the context of the decision
• Decision paralysis


  • Facing too many options or conflicting information can lead to decision paralysis, where individuals struggle to make a choice, resulting in inaction or delays
• Sunk cost fallacy


  • Decisions influenced by past investments of time, money, or effort, rather than future prospects, can lead to irrational behavior and poor decision-making
• Confirmation bias


  • Decision-makers may seek out information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs or preferences while ignoring contradictory evidence, leading to biased decision outcomes
• Ethical dilemmas


  • Some decisions involve ethical considerations, and individuals may face moral dilemmas where there is a conflict between competing values or principles