Anterior Prefrontal Function and the Limits of Human Decision-Making

Science ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 318 (5850) ◽  
pp. 594-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Koechlin ◽  
Alexandre Hyafil
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Anterior Part ◽  
Task Execution ◽  
Prefrontal Function ◽  
Frontopolar Cortex ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Executive System

The frontopolar cortex (FPC), the most anterior part of the frontal lobes, forms the apex of the executive system underlying decision-making. Here, we review empirical evidence showing that the FPC function enables contingent interposition of two concurrent behavioral plans or mental tasks according to respective reward expectations, overcoming the serial constraint that bears upon the control of task execution in the prefrontal cortex. This function is mechanistically explained by interactions between FPC and neighboring prefrontal regions. However, its capacity appears highly limited, which suggests that the FPC is efficient for protecting the execution of long-term mental plans from immediate environmental demands and for generating new, possibly more rewarding, behavioral or cognitive sequences, rather than for complex decision-making and reasoning.

Drifting the goals archetype: a systemic study

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virupaxi Bagodi ◽  
Biswajit Mahanty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Current Reality

PurposeManagerial decision-making is an area of interest to both academia and practitioners. Researchers found that managers often fail to manage complex decision-making tasks and system thinkers assert that generic structures known as systems archetypes help them to a great deal in handling such situations. In this paper, it is demonstrated that decision makers resort to lowering of goal (quick-fix) in order to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality in the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.Design/methodology/approachA real-life case study is taken up to highlight the pitfalls of “drifting the goals” systems archetype for a decision situation in the Indian two-wheeler industry. System dynamics modeling is made use of to obtain the results.FindingsThe decision makers fail to realize the pitfall of lowering the goal to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality. It is seen that, irrespective of current less-than-desirable performance, managers adopting corrective actions other than lowering of goals perform better in the long run. Further, it is demonstrated that extending the boundary and experimentation results in designing a better service system and setting benchmarks.Practical implicationsThe best possible way to avoid the pitfall is to hold the vision and not lower the long term goal. The managers must be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.Originality/valueSystems thinking is important in complex decision-making tasks. Managers need to embrace long-term perspective in decision-making. This paper demonstrates the value of systems thinking in terms of a case study on the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.

scholarly journals Evaluación comparativa multifuncional de sistemas agrarios mediante AHP: Aplicación al olivar ecológico, integrado y convencional de Andalucía

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Parra López ◽  
Javier Calatrava Requena ◽  
Tomás De Haro Giménez
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Olive Groves ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Hierarchy Process

Even though multifunctionality concept is reflected, implicit or explicitly, in the design of actual agrarian policies, its consideration when analysing and assessing farming systems is relatively limited in the scientific literature. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proposed with this aim. AHP is a multicriteria discrete decision support technique that is used in complex decision making. This methodology is stated jointly with a proposed procedure to measure relative agreement among decision makers and uniformity of alternatives’ performances in group decision making. Finally AHP is implemented in the assessment of organic, integrated and conventional olive groves in Andalusia considering criteria of a different nature – economic, technical, sociocultural and environmental –. The final purpose is determining the more interesting growing techniques from a holistic point of view for all the society in the medium/long-term on the basis of knowledge of experts on olive.

scholarly journals GPs’ insights about discontinuing long-term antidepressant use: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
pp. BJGP.2020.0913
Author(s):  
Maria Donald ◽  
Riitta Partanen ◽  
Leah Sharman ◽  
Johanna Lynch ◽  
Genevieve A Dingle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prescribing Practices ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Antidepressant Use ◽  
Set Up

Background: There is considerable concern about increasing antidepressant use, with Australians among the highest users in the world. Evidence suggests this is driven by patients on long-term rather than new prescriptions. Most antidepressant prescriptions are generated in general practice and it is likely that attempts to discontinue are either not occurring or are proving unsuccessful. Aim: To explore GPs’ insights about long-term antidepressant prescribing. Design and Setting: A qualitative interview study with Australian GPs. Method: Semi-structured interviews explored GPs’ discontinuation experiences, decision-making, perceived risks and benefits, and support for patients. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three overarching themes were identified from interviews with 22 GPs. The first, ‘Not a simple deprescribing decision’, speaks to the complex decision-making GPs undertake in determining whether a patient is ready to discontinue. The second, ‘A journey taken together’ captures a set of steps GPs take together with their patients to initiate and set-up adequate support before, during and after discontinuation. The third: ‘Supporting change in GPs’ prescribing practices’ describes what GPs would like to see change to better support them and their patients to discontinue antidepressants. Conclusions: GPs see discontinuation of long-term antidepressant use as more than a simple deprescribing decision. It begins with considering a patients’ social and relational context and is a journey involving careful preparation, tailored care and regular review. These insights suggest interventions to redress long-term use will need to take these considerations into account and be placed in a wider discussion about the use of antidepressants.

scholarly journals Equal evidence perceptual tasks suggest key role for interactive competition in decision-making

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Kirkpatrick ◽  
Brandon Turner ◽  
Per B. Sederberg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Sequential Sampling ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Best Fit ◽  
Made In

The dynamics of decision-making have been widely studied over the past several decades through the lens of an overarching theory called sequential sampling theory (SST). Within SST, choices are represented as accumulators, each of which races toward a decision boundary by drawing stochastic samples of evidence through time. Although progress has been made in understanding how decisionsare made within the SST framework, considerable debate centers on whether the accumulators exhibit dependency during the evidence accumulation process; namely whether accumulators are independent, fully dependent, or partially dependent. To evaluate which type of dependency is the most plausible representation of human decision-making, we applied a novel twist on two classic perceptual tasks; namely, in addition to the classic paradigm (i.e., the unequal-evidence conditions), we used stimuli that provided different magnitudes of equal-evidence (i.e., the equal-evidence conditions). In equal-evidence conditions, response times systematically decreased with increases in the magnitude of evidence, whereas in unequal evidence conditions, response times systematically increased as the difference in evidence between the two alternatives decreased. We designed a spectrum of models that ranged from independent accumulation to fully dependent accumulation, while also examining the effects of within-trial and between-trial variability. We then fit the set of models to our two experiments and found that models instantiating the principles of partial dependency provided the best fit to the data. Our results further suggest that mechanisms inducing partial dependency, such as lateral inhibition, are beneficial for understanding complex decision-making dynamics, even when the task is relatively simple.

Classroom Teaching, Implicit Learning and the Deleterious Effects of Inappropriate Explication

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Decision Accuracy ◽  
Natural Context ◽  
Rate Information ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Experimental Group

Eighty-five senior cadets participated in a class exercise involving complex decision-making in a natural context. One experimental group was induced to employ explicit decisional processing and another was allowed to simply guess appropriate responses. Decision accuracy was measured at three levels of information availability. Both groups performed significantly above the level of chance when no reliable, objective information was provided. However, neither accurate base rate information nor conditional probabilities increased the decision accuracy of either experimental group. The group allowed to simply guess made significantly more accurate responses than did the group induced to explicate their decisional choices. These results provide convergent support for the dissociation of implicit and explicit knowledge. The exercise itself was a useful combination of research and experiential learning and encouraged classroom discussions of many issues related to human decision making.

Decision Filed Theory

2019 ◽  
pp. 640-654
Author(s):  
Lan Shao ◽  
Jouni Markkula
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Dft Theory ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Ict System ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Decision Making Behavior

Human decision-making theories and formal models are increasingly used for developing advanced ICT-based intelligent systems and services. Decision filed theory (DFT) is one of the decision-making theories that has significant potential for practical applications in real-world decision-making situations. Successful empirical studied have shown that DFT theory is able to explain human decision-making behavior in real situations, and the model can be applied as a basis for ICT system and service design. In this chapter, the authors present the results of a systematic literature review conducted for analyzing and synthesizing the evidence of DFT development and its validated usage in different application areas. The results show that the interest in DFT and its applications has grown strongly during the last years. The basic model has been extended to cover more complex decision-making situations and its applications have been widening.

Decision Filed Theory

2018 ◽  
pp. 2108-2120
Author(s):  
Lan Shao ◽  
Jouni Markkula
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Dft Theory ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Ict System ◽  
Complex Decision

Human decision making theories and formal models are increasingly used for developing advanced ICT based intelligent systems and services. Decision Filed Theory (DFT) is one of the decision making theories that has significant potential for practical applications in real-world decision making situations. Successful empirical studied have shown that DFT theory is able to explain human decision making behaviour in real situations and the model can be applied as a basis for ICT system and service design. In this article, we present the results of a Systematic Literature Review that we conducted for analysing and synthesizing the evidence of DFT development and its validated usage in different application areas. The results show that the interest in DFT and its applications has grown strongly during the last years. The basic model has been extended to cover more complex decision making situations and its applications have been widening.

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