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Related Concept Videos

Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.
Decision Making01:20

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...
Reason and Intuition01:37

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...
Hindsight Biases01:12

Hindsight Biases

Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

Eye Movements in Visual Duration Perception: Disentangling Stimulus from Time in Predecisional Processes
09:27

Eye Movements in Visual Duration Perception: Disentangling Stimulus from Time in Predecisional Processes

Published on: January 19, 2024

Working-memory load and temporal myopia in dynamic decision making.

Darrell A Worthy1, A Ross Otto, W Todd Maddox

  • 1Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA. worthyda@tamu.edu

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|May 2, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Working memory load impacts dynamic decision-making strategies. High load favors immediate rewards, while low load encourages strategic, rule-based choices, affecting task performance.

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Last Updated: May 22, 2026

Eye Movements in Visual Duration Perception: Disentangling Stimulus from Time in Predecisional Processes
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Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Decision Science

Background:

  • Dynamic decision making involves complex choices with delayed consequences.
  • Working memory (WM) is crucial for maintaining and manipulating information during cognitive tasks.
  • Understanding WM's role in decision making is key to explaining strategic behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how working memory load influences decision-making strategies in dynamic environments.
  • To differentiate between rule-based and reinforcement learning models of decision making under varying WM loads.

Main Methods:

  • Participants performed dynamic decision-making tasks under single-task (low WM load) and dual-task (high WM load) conditions.
  • Reward structures were manipulated to make either immediate or delayed rewards optimal.
  • Behavioral data and computational modeling (WSLS, Softmax) were used to analyze decision strategies.

Main Results:

  • Dual-task (high WM load) participants favored immediate rewards, while single-task (low WM load) participants favored delayed rewards, irrespective of optimality.
  • Single-task performance was best explained by a win-stay, lose-shift (WSLS) model.
  • Dual-task performance was best explained by a Softmax reinforcement learning model.

Conclusions:

  • Working memory load modulates the focus on immediate versus delayed consequences in decision making.
  • WM load influences the adoption of specific decision strategies (rule-based vs. reinforcement learning).
  • The ability to weigh long-term utility may be preserved, but the strategic approach is altered by WM load.