Making a decision at first seems like a seamless process that our brain performs on a daily basis thousands of times. From the moment you wake up, a decision has to be made. Should I snooze, or should I get out of bed; should I shower now or later, or should I wear jeans or this color shirt. As the day goes by, almost everything we do is a consequence of a split second decision that we make. As simple as it may seem, it is quite a complex process in our brains involving mainly the prefrontal cortex and other regions to perform even the simplest almost involuntary tasks.
We have been wired to act on certain decisions almost subconsciously, like drinking water when we are thirsty. Other decisions require a more complex thought process that is more conscious like which house to buy, who you will marry, or what career path will you take. Regardless of its complexity, decision making is greatly influenced by our past experiences and the current knowledge we have at hand.
The decision making process
Let’s break down one of the previous examples: Should I press the snooze button on my alarm or not. This is a common decision that millions of people make every morning. When making a decision, we will have one result that can be influenced by many factors.
Figure 1 (opposite page) is a flowchart of a decision making process. This diagram can be applied to almost any decision you make. If we apply it to our sample above, you will quickly understand how the process works. Before we make a decision we need to have a problem to decide upon: “press the snooze button or not”. We then need to analyze the facts about that decision which can be influenced by general assumptions, our personal behavioral patterns and our experience. Once we gather all the facts, we have to analyze them before we can make a decision. For instance, we might consider what we have to do if we lose 10 more minutes of the morning or vice versa: what if we have an extra 10 minutes in the morning?
Our previous experiences will help us determine those facts based on our past results. If in the past you were late at work, and your employer reprimanded you, you might think twice before snoozing. On the other hand, you might snooze for 10 minutes, and there no negative consequences but rather the positive result of feeling great if we sleep an extra 10 minutes. If this is the case we will most likely press that button again in the future. Regardless of our choice, two general outcomes can come about our decision: satisfaction or regret.
.
by Dr. German Garcia-Fresco
Neuroscientist
Perreault Magazine - 58 -
making a
DECISION