Neuropsychology elements in decision making
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Decsions are conducted in a "logical" the manner through the cognitive elements of decision making. Yet this "logical" thinking is mostly not common. usually people are influenced by an "illogical" ways of thinking. scientists from several disciplines were able to describe these "illogical" ways of thinking, and some of the neural and cognitive mechanism that produce the "illogical" thinking.
PFC vs FFFF
One of the main effectors on decision making is a cognitive mechanism that work when a threat is perceived. This reaction which is named Fight or Flight[1], or in it's current name Freeze, Flight, Fight or Fright[2]. seems to influence decisions. FFFF influence decisions in several aspects:
- Reduce exploring mode, and heighten doing mode.
- Thus, reducing the ability to learn while in action of handling the threat. Yet after the threat was over, then more resources will be devoted to learning about the threat.
- There is a tendency to impulsive reactions[3].
- Perceiving the world as divided to bad and good, or more schematic.
- Impulsive reaction will inhibit the usage of system 2.
On the other hand, while not in FFFF mode (the PFC mode, people will tend to be more:
- Will be more receptive to exploring mode.
- Increase the ability to learn while doing.
- A more educated decision will be taken
- Perceiving the world as more subtle
- Less inhibition on activation of system 2.
For many of those who attempted to reach an agreement between liberals and conservatives on wide variety of issues, it seems that the gaps in understanding the situation between the parties is very hard to negotiate. The misunderstanding sometimes become an emotional issue, which result the raising of a wall of contempt that blocks any further path to mutual understanding. Thus, understanding the differences between liberals and conservatives and the grounds for the schism, may help find devising deliberative process which will support a better mutual understanding and even agreed decisions.
Thinking fast, thinking slow
One of the most known ideas about illogical thinking is the system 1 and system 2 methods of thinking popularized by Daniel Kahnman in his book "Thinking fast, thinking slow"[4]. Khanman describe two systems the brain uses to reason about the world. The first, system 1, is a heuristic method of thinking. when we try to choose a solution, most of the times, we will use system 1, which is fast and do not cause high cognitive load. The problem with system 1, is that is tend to be wrong when the solution is not a simple solution, and that people tend to depend upon system one for most of their decision making. Another problem that is similar to system 1 fast thinking, is that most people tend not to recognize their lack of knowledge in the subject of decision making[5][6][7][8]..
Explorers and Doers
It seems like doers have more mind closure, and therefore they reach a decision much faster. Thinkers used to collaborate and share more in order to reach decisions, and therefore their motivation or "global energizing factor", is low.
The pay-off of of how much colaboration or doeing can be acchived when there is to much "doing" or to much "thinking".
Thinkers and doers is a phenomena that seam to have some corrolation to liberals and conservatives.
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References
- ↑ Cannon WB, 1932, The wisdom of the body, New York, Norton
- ↑ S. Bracha at al, 2004, Does "Fight or Flight" Need Updating?, Psychosomatics 45:448-449, October
- ↑ Samuel M. McClure, David I. Laibson, George Loewenstein and Jonathan D. Cohen, 2004, Separate Neural Systems Value Immediate and Delayed Monetary Rewards, Science 15 October 2004: Vol. 306 no. 5695 pp. 503-507
- ↑ Khanman D., 2011, Thinking fast, Thinking slow p. 36
- ↑ Kruger, Justin; David Dunning (1999). "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77 (6): 1121–34.
- ↑ Kennedy, Ellen J., Leigh Lawton, and E. Leroy Plumlee. "Blissful ignorance: The problem of unrecognized incompetence and academic performance." Journal of Marketing Education 24.3 (2002): 243-252.
- ↑ Dunning, David, et al. "Why people fail to recognize their own incompetence." Current Directions in Psychological Science 12.3 (2003): 83-87.
- ↑ Dunning, David, Chip Heath, and Jerry M. Suls. "Flawed self-assessment implications for health, education, and the workplace." Psychological science in the public interest 5.3 (2004): 69-106.