02/02/2022

How to Make Tough Decisions When Things Feel Especially Uncertain

The current period of great uncertainty can make decision-making trickier

Another impact the pandemic is having on work is our ability to make decisions. The process is more challenging when outcomes are uncertain—and we’re still living with plenty of uncertainty.

To better understand how people approach decisions when they can’t predict how things will turn out, University of Cambridge researchers Barbara J. Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology, and Aleya A. Marzuki, PhD candidate in cognitive neuroscience, performed an experiment that focused on how decision-making processes can go awry because of mental health conditions.

The researchers asked two groups, one comprised of teens with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and one without, to complete a probabilistic decision-making task, selecting between two images on a screen. One picture was programmed to provide them points 80 percent of the time while the alternative picture provided points only 20 percent of the time. Halfway through the task, the reward probabilities associated with each option would reverse.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.