decision-making

Researchers cracked a 50-year-old math problem scribbled by Richard Feynman over lunch. The equations show that humans are better decision-makers than scientists once thought.

What is Decision making? Decision making is the cognitive process of choosing a course of action from multiple alternatives. it's not just about "big" life choices (career, marriage, relocation) but also routine ones (what to eat, when to reply to an email). Every decision consumes mental energy, and the quality of your decision determines the quality of your life. WHY WE STRUGGLE WITH DECISIONS…

Comparative shopping for the right therapist works much better than taking the first offer, referral, or suggestion—and not just for finding the right therapist.

The 50-year mystery suggests humans may be more rational than we thought The post Solving Feynman’s Formula for Eating Well, Parking Your Car, and Finding a Mate appeared first on Nautilus .

New research from Indiana University Professor of Psychological and Brain Science Tom James suggests that a combination of sensory, sensorimotor, and motor processes leads to what he prefers to call "action selection" based on a less linear, more simultaneous and circular interaction between body, brain, and environment - a feature which calls for a shift in scientific methods that can capture th…

For decades, public health has focused on controlling infections, improving quality, and reducing risk. Yet many healthcare failures begin much earlier—with a human decision. Could the next frontier of public health be the science of understanding and improving those decisions?

Neuropsychopharmacology, Published online: 29 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41386-026-02448-5 Rapid and reliable computational markers of decision-making for predicting daily smoking behavior and smoking cessation treatment outcomes

Applications are now open for the Maynooth University Faculty of Science and Engineering Doctoral Scholarship 2026 at the Hamilton Institute. This fully funded doctoral scholarship is designed for highly qualified candidates interested in cognitive computational neuroscience, decision-making, neural network modelling, and human brain research. The scholarship offers the chance to work under exper…

For decades, leaders have found ways to remove small decisions from their lives. But does limiting your outfit choices actually help your workday? Maybe.

A new study reveals that novice chess players rely heavily on visual pattern recognition rather than complex mental calculations. Training beginners to memorize board arrangements could be the fastest way to improve their game.

Nature Communications, Published online: 26 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73622-y Sensory stimuli have different implications depending upon context. Here, the authors report prominent context-dependent integration of whisker sensation with auditory working memory cues in frontal cortex directly downstream of somatosensory cortex.

Discussions of free will often center on the question of whether actions are determined, with a special focus on causes, effects, and when subjects experience the desire to act relative to neural events. However, because the only evidence for the existence of free will is the subjective experience itself, explanation must center on the phenomenal: why do we feel free? Here, we propose a neuropsyc…

Penn researchers studied the relative persuasive impact of messages expressing attitudes, describing behaviors, or combining both. The post What Makes Messages Persuasive? appeared first on The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania .

Contrary to the idea that dating apps offer too many choices, new research suggests that seeing more profiles helps users find better matches. Having abundant options tends to increase an individual's desire to pursue a relationship.

The average person works 80,000 hours over the course of their career. Ideally, that time should be fulfilling, well-paid, and spent doing things that make the world a better place. Of course that’s much, much easier said than done. In an increasingly fragile job market made still more fraught by AI, there’s no longer such […]

Moral decision-making is a core cognitive process that influences human social behavior. Understanding its underlying psychological mechanisms is crucial for comprehending individuals' prosocial tendencies and social adaptation. This study employs a situational priming paradigm to systematically investigate the impact of self-relevance on moral decision-making under time pressure. A pilot study a…

Financial planning is more than numbers. Our money choices are shaped by emotion, memory, fear, and hope—and understanding that can help us plan with greater confidence.

A 3am theory about cognitive architecture, Kahneman, and why I always reach for Sonnet. Kahneman's Two Systems Daniel Kahneman spent decades studying how humans make decisions. His conclusion, laid out in Thinking, Fast and Slow , is that we don't have one brain — we have two systems running in parallel: System 1 is fast, automatic, instinctive. It pattern-matches. It reacts. It's the part of you…

Journalist Simone Stolzoff in a new book explores why modern life makes not knowing harder – and how to learn to live with it Simone Stolzoff describes himself as “naturally an uncertain person” inclined to rumination and self-doubt. This tendency benefits him in his work as a journalist, but can otherwise be a double-edged sword. While working for a magazine in New York , Stolzoff was approached…

ISRM is pleased to congratulate Fayadh Alenezi, PhD, Chair of the ISRM Saudi Arabia Chapter, on being ranked among the Top 10 influencers and creators in Management and Leadership in Saudi Arabia by Favikon. This recognition highlights Dr. Alenezi’s ongoing contribution to advancing conversations around risk, decision-making, resilience, and leadership. Through his professional insights and engag…