Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Decision Making

Decision Making

Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...

Decision Making: Traditional Method

Decision Making: Traditional Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the traditional method includes calculating the critical value, testing the value of the test statistic using the sample data, and interpreting these values.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...

Reason and Intuition

Reason and Intuition

The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the brain can only use...

The Availability Heuristic

The Availability Heuristic

A heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, and the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):

Decision Making: P-value Method

Decision Making: P-value Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...

Heuristics

Heuristics

Heuristics are problem-solving strategies that use mental shortcuts to simplify decision-making. Unlike algorithms, which must be followed precisely to achieve a correct result, heuristics offer a general problem-solving framework. They save time and energy but can sometimes lead to less rational decisions.
People often rely on heuristics when faced with an overload of information, limited time, low importance of the decision, limited information, or when a heuristic readily comes to mind. For...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Evaluation of Emerging Treatments that Activate Stem Cell Pathways for Hair Growth.

Facial plastic surgery clinics of North America·2026

Same author

Timely nudges promote patient portal enrollment and sustained engagement: a randomized controlled trial.

JAMIA open·2026

Same author

eConsent vs traditional consent among prospective biobank participants: a randomized study within a study trial.

npj digital public health·2026

Same author

An Updated Polygenic Index Repository: Expanded Phenotypes, New Cohorts, and Improved Causal Inference.

Research square·2025

Same author

Family-GWAS reveals effects of environment and mating on genetic associations.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2025

Same author

eConsent vs. Traditional Consent Among Prospective Biobank Participants: A Randomized Trial.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

The allocation of time in decision-making.

Christopher F Chabris¹, David Laibson, Carrie L Morris

¹Union College.

Journal of the European Economic Association

|December 3, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Decision-makers spend less time choosing between options when the value difference is large. This research shows optimal time allocation in decision-making, treating time as a valuable resource.

More Related Videos

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task

Published on: January 9, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task

Published on: January 9, 2016

Area of Science:

Cognitive psychology
Behavioral economics
Decision theory

Background:

Decision-making involves cognitive processes and time investment.
Individuals may have imperfect information (noisy value estimates).
Information quality improves with increased analysis time.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how individuals allocate time when making decisions.
To test the hypothesis that decision-makers spend less time on choices with larger value differences.
To model time allocation as an optimal strategy based on cost-benefit principles.

Main Methods:

Subjects completed 27 binary incentive-compatible intertemporal choice tasks.
Response time for each decision was meticulously recorded.
A quantitative model was developed to predict time allocation.

Main Results:

The developed time allocation model accounted for 54% of the variance in average decision time.
Empirical data supported the prediction that larger value differences lead to shorter decision times.
Decision time was found to be inversely related to the magnitude of the value difference between options.

Conclusions:

Decision-making is a cognitively demanding process.
Time is a crucial input in decision-making, allocated based on cost-benefit analysis.
Optimal time allocation strategies are employed even with noisy value estimates.