In the largest study of its kind, Ottawa researchers found that children whose mothers reported using cannabis during pregnancy were at greater risk of autism. The incidence of autism was 4 per 1000 person-years among children ...
Aug 10, 2020
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When Stanford University neuroscientist Brian Knutson tracked his smartphone usage, he was shocked to learn that he spent twice as much time on his phone as he had anticipated.
Mar 9, 2020
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If you've ever found yourself staring at a lengthy restaurant menu and been completely unable to decide what to order for lunch, you have experienced what psychologists call choice overload. The brain, faced with an overwhelming ...
Oct 1, 2018
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A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has found that mice and rats, like humans, tend to make poor decisions based on "sunk costs." In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their ...
The hottest hairstyle, the latest extreme sport, the newest viral stunt—trends happen for a reason and now scientists have a better understanding of why.
May 18, 2015
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A new study correlating brain activity with how people make decisions suggests that when individuals engage in risky behavior, such as drunk driving or unsafe sex, it's probably not because their brains' desire systems are ...
Feb 4, 2014
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Genetics researchers have identified at least two new gene variants that increase the risk of common childhood obesity.
Apr 8, 2012
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(Medical Xpress) -- What drives addicts to repeatedly choose drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overeating, gambling or kleptomania, despite the risks involved?
Oct 30, 2011
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New research from the University of Reading sheds light on the complex relationship between time spent alone and mental health. The study, published in Scientific Reports, reveals that solitude has both benefits and costs ...
Dec 6, 2023
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Making decisions is hard. Our choice often leaves something else on the table even when we know what we want. For a hungry mouse, every morsel counts. But what if the decision is more consequential than choosing between crumbs ...
Nov 8, 2023
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Choice consists of the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them. While a choice can be made between imagined options ("what would I do if ...?"), often a choice is made between real options, and followed by the corresponding action. For example, a route for a journey is chosen based on the preference of arriving at a given destination as soon as possible. The preferred (and therefore chosen) route is then derived from information about how long each of the possible routes take. This can be done by a route planner. If the preference is more complex, such as involving the scenery of the route, cognition and feeling are more intertwined, and the choice is less easy to delegate to a computer program or assistant.
More complex examples (often decisions that affect what a person thinks or their core beliefs) include choosing a lifestyle, religious affiliation, or political position.
Most people regard having choices as a good thing, though a severely limited or artificially restricted choice can lead to discomfort with choosing and possibly, an unsatisfactory outcome. In contrast, unlimited choice may lead to confusion, regret of the alternatives not taken, and indifference in an unstructured existence; and the illusion that choosing an object or a course leads necessarily to control of that object or course can cause psychological problems.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
