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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Disruption of Frontal Lobe Neural Synchrony During Cognitive Control by Alcohol Intoxication

Disruption of Frontal Lobe Neural Synchrony During Cognitive Control by Alcohol Intoxication

Published on: February 6, 2019

Alcohol's effects on decision making and cognitive processing in a reward uncertainty task.

Freya Whittaker¹, Angelica DeFalco², Rachel S Goldblum¹

¹School of Psychological Science, Oregon State University.

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors : Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors

|November 13, 2025

Summary

Alcohol consumption reduces aversion to uncertainty, leading to increased risk-taking in decision-making. This study found alcohol, not placebo, altered choices and brain responses, impacting judgment.

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Published on: January 5, 2018

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychology
Behavioral Science

Background:

Alcohol consumption is linked to increased risk-taking behaviors.
Laboratory studies show inconsistent results regarding alcohol's effect on risk-taking.
The specific contexts influencing alcohol-induced risk-taking require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate alcohol's impact on decision-making within a reward uncertainty framework.
To determine if alcohol reduces aversion to uncertainty.
To explore the neural mechanisms associated with alcohol-induced decision-making.

Main Methods:

Participants received alcoholic, placebo, or nonalcoholic drinks.
A Reward Uncertainty Task was used to assess choices between certain and uncertain monetary rewards.
P3 event-related potentials were measured to explore neural mechanisms.

Main Results:

Non-intoxicated participants showed aversion to uncertainty.
Alcohol consumption reduced reward uncertainty aversion, indicating a pharmacological effect.
Alcohol attenuated the P3 response, suggesting disrupted cognitive processing and potentially riskier choices.

Conclusions:

Alcohol dampens responses to uncertainty in appetitive domains, extending previous findings on aversive stressors.
Findings suggest alcohol's impact on decision-making is pharmacological, not due to expectancy.
Further research is needed to develop interventions mitigating alcohol's negative effects on decision-making.