The Dynamic Processes Underlying Decision Making Under Time-Pressure

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Every day we encounter situations where we must rapidly decide on a course of action. For instance, we may need to quickly reach to turn off pot that is boiling over on the stove without burning ourselves or detect and then react to avoid possible road dangers while driving. Overall, we need to select and perform actions that achieve our goals and avoid negative outcomes. To do this, we must first attend to the appropriate information in the environment to gain the necessary information to make a decision. Once we have gained the information we then have to weigh the information appropriately when selecting and planning actions. The long-term goal of the proposed research is to understand these processes that influence rapid visuomotor decision-making. To achieve this goal, the proposed research will use reaching movements to assess the influence of positive and negative consequences embedded the environment on our behaviour. Statistical decision theory can be used to calculate what would be the optimal course of action and then participants’ behaviour can be compared optimal behaviour. A number of questions will be answered including whether we attend to positive and negatively associated stimuli similarly and how experience and training with rapid decision making affects whether we make optimal decisions. The proposed research will also determine if there are individual differences in how we make decisions. Therefore, the proposal will explore both the contextual and personal factors that affect visuomotor decision making. This research will advance theoretical work in decision making by providing a better understanding of the processes that contribute to rapid decision making. In the long term, these findings can be applied in real-world settings where rapid, optimal decision making is critical such as in aviation, road safety and combat decision making.