In Psychology, decision making can be regarded as problem solving activity yielding a solution deemed to be optimal or at least satisfactory. It is therefore a process which can be more or less rational or irrational based on explicit or tacit knowledge and beliefs. Tacit knowledge is often used to fill the gaps in complex decision making processes. Usually both of these types of knowledge, explicit and tacit, are used in the decision making process.
A major part of decision making involves the analysis of a finite set of alternatives described in terms of evaluative criteria. Then the task might be to rank these alternatives in terms of how attractive they are to the decision maker(s) when all the criteria are considered simultaneously.
Solving such a problem is the focus of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis or MCDA. This area of decision making, although old, has attracted the interest of many researchers and practitioners and is still highly debated as there are many MCDA methods which may yield very different results when they are applied on exactly the same data. This leads to the formulation of the decision making paradox.
On the other hand, Logical decision making is an important part of all science-based professions, where specialists apply their knowledge in a given area to make informed decisions. For example, medical decision making often involves a diagnosis and the selection of the appropriate treatment.
But naturalistic decision making research shows that in situations with higher time pressure, high stakes or increased ambiguities, experts may use intuitive decision making rather than structured approaches. They may follow a recognition primed decision that fits their experience and arrive at a course of action without weighing alternatives.
x----x
This post is brought to you by Nestlé.
A major part of decision making involves the analysis of a finite set of alternatives described in terms of evaluative criteria. Then the task might be to rank these alternatives in terms of how attractive they are to the decision maker(s) when all the criteria are considered simultaneously.
Solving such a problem is the focus of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis or MCDA. This area of decision making, although old, has attracted the interest of many researchers and practitioners and is still highly debated as there are many MCDA methods which may yield very different results when they are applied on exactly the same data. This leads to the formulation of the decision making paradox.
On the other hand, Logical decision making is an important part of all science-based professions, where specialists apply their knowledge in a given area to make informed decisions. For example, medical decision making often involves a diagnosis and the selection of the appropriate treatment.
But naturalistic decision making research shows that in situations with higher time pressure, high stakes or increased ambiguities, experts may use intuitive decision making rather than structured approaches. They may follow a recognition primed decision that fits their experience and arrive at a course of action without weighing alternatives.
x----x
This post is brought to you by Nestlé.
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