Decision Making | AMBROSIA

Decision Making - A Double Edged Sword

[Takeaway – The following write up aims at deciphering the process of decision-making and how to direct the same to attain desirable results.]

The process of decision-making in human mind, happens consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously. The subconscious is a part of the mind which we are not fully aware of. It performs actions competently with the conscious mind and influences our feelings. Not until the decision is attached to a sizable result, do we actually execute it as a conscious choice. We often find ourselves going wrong in important decisions, but do it right all the time in petty decisions of everyday life. What to wear, what to cook, how to travel, whom to meet, what to shop and many more are few examples of the routine decisions we make.

Unconscious Decisions

In their research article published, on March 8, 2019, “Evaluating the Benefits of Conscious and Unconscious Thought in Complex Decision Making, Marlène Abadie, Laurent Waroquier, tried to find best way to make complex decisions involving multiple criteria. Studies were conducted on contrasting the effects of deliberation, distraction, and immediate decision on a multi-attribute decision task developed by Dijksterhuis (2004). In this decision task, participants are presented with several objects (e.g., apartments) described by positive (e.g., “quiet area”) and negative (e.g., “noisy area”) attributes. Following the presentation of the attributes, they are assigned to one of three decision modes.

In the immediate condition, they have to choose the best option without thinking any further.
In the distraction condition, they are prevented from making their decision for a few minutes by engaging in a distracting activity (e.g., solving anagrams).
In the deliberation condition, they have to consider about their decision for the same amount of time.

Decision quality, in most cases, is defined as normative, the best option being the one with the largest number of positive attributes. Surprisingly, initial results revealed that, when faced with such a complex decision with lots of relevant information, participants were more likely to choose the best option after a distraction, than after a deliberation period or immediately after information presentation (Dijksterhuis, 2004; Dijksterhuis et al., 2006). This effect was dubbed the “unconscious thought effect” (UTE; Strick, Dijksterhuis, & van Baaren, 2010) because unconscious processing of decision information is assumed to occur during the distraction period.

(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2372732218816998)

There are different studies like the above, which prove unconscious decision-making an effective process. This may be true when we are confronted with a complex decision, accompanied by too much information and too little time, like discussed in the above paper. The pressure of taking a decision compels the brain to operate at an optimal level leading it to near successful decisions. But not all circumstances fit this box.

In the absence of information and time, or in absence of mental stability to withstand the stress, the impact of unconscious decision-making can give undesired results.

Subconscious Decision-Making

Here is when our sub-conscious comes as a savior. Why are the decisions taken subconsciously successful while those taken unconsciously are most prone to risk of failure?

When decisions are taken subconsciously, we do not realize the process that happens in the brain which involves computations of risk-benefit analysis. Examples of such decisions are driving a vehicle, cooking a dish, purchasing a dress, etc. We do not think a bit to gear up the vehicle when the light turns green, adjust salt or other condiments when the dish lacks taste, or pick up colors that suit you from the shop aisle. All happens subconsciously, yet provides good results most of the time.

These same decisions, when taken unconsciously, accidents happen, the dish on the stove burns and we end up picking up a poor fitting dress.

So, it is significant that we push the bigger decisions of our life into this deeper level of consciousness, where we naturally produce successful results. When we are challenged with a vital decision, we need our brain to process it, as casually as it does with other routine decisions. Why do we need to do so? Not that we lack the time and energy to invest into conscious decision-making, but the following are the underlying reasons why we can consider taking even most important decisions with subconscious self:

• Saves the mind from fear of failure, anxiety, depression

• Makes challenges a part of life and not that Mt. Everest which you need to hike

• Takes us closer to success with every decision

• Improves confidence levels to take up new tasks

• Makes pitfalls and failures less scary

• Helps prevent emotional and physical energy drain

• Help prevent side effects like withdrawal, aggression and low morale.

Activating the Schema

Under the given conditions of pressure, time and information, our sub-conscious self, attempts the decision-making as a natural habit and not as a special challenge. Exposing the brain consistently to information, leads to activation of schema. This information is learning about others’ failures, reading success stories, keeping ourselves updated with latest developments in a related field, seeking expert opinions, indulging in highly productive conversations, adopting habits that contribute to our mental and physical well-being, etc. When you collect as much information as possible, when we meet a challenge or a problem, the element of fear is eliminated. Fear crops up most of the times from ignorance. So, as a part of activating schema we look towards removing this major hurdle called fear.

Schema is a cognitive framework which helps process critical information with ease. It constantly adapts to the new information received and pairs it up with the available knowledge to produce results. This schema is constantly updated replacing the existing schemas in the brain. This process is called assimilation or accommodation. It is the reason the first time you drive, cook or shop at a new place, that the output suffers. While the same process yields better results when you repeat the actions again and again. A child who struggles to learn alphabets progresses to learn the words and sentences, etc. as he continues to get exposed to new data.

So, if we allow this task of decision-making to enter into the schema, the chassis for the process of decision-making is embedded in deeper levels of consciousness. Information required to decide on a choice is consistently collected by the brain and accumulated over a period. This is not as easy as mentioned here. Also, schema suffers from drawbacks like

Producing stereotypical results
Mismatch in the process of assimilation or accommodation – like placing information in the wrong schema.
Reduced efficiency with age – schema is more agile in the early years of life than later.

In “Clinical decision making: how surgeons do it”, by David Watters - ANZ Journal of Surgery – he talks about “Clinical decision making - a core competency of surgical practice”. It involves two distinct types of mental processes best considered as the ends of a continuum, ranging from intuitive and subconscious to analytical and conscious.

In practice, individual decisions are usually reached by combination of each, according to the complexity of the situation and the experience/expertise of the surgeon. An expert moves effortlessly along this continuum, according to need, able to apply learned rules or algorithms to specific presentations, choosing these because of either pattern recognition or analytical thinking. The expert recognizes and responds quickly to any mismatch between what is observed and what was expected, coping with gaps in information and making decisions even where critical data may be uncertain or unknown. Even for experts, the cognitive processes involved are difficult to articulate as they tend to be very complex.

At one end of this continuum, there is a subconscious, intuitive, automatic type of decision-making based on pattern recognition, which is continuously matched to the clinical or operative context. With increasing experience and ability to recognize patterns that are familiar, this approach is fast, frugal and consumes little mental energy. (For an idea on pattern recognition, visit life skills page in this website).

At the other end of the spectrum, there is a conscious, analytical, logical and deductive approach, which tends to be slower, thoughtful and which consumes a large proportion of one’s mental capacity. Doctors may move along this continuum a number of times during any CDM process. Inexperienced clinicians rely most heavily on an analytical and deductive approach because of their limited previous experience. In “Clinical decision making: how surgeons do it”, by David Watters - ANZ Journal of Surgery – he talks about “Clinical decision making - a core competency of surgical practice”. It involves two distinct types of mental processes best considered as the ends of a continuum, ranging from intuitive and subconscious to analytical and conscious.

At one end of this continuum, there is a subconscious, intuitive, automatic type of decision-making based on pattern recognition, which is continuously matched to the clinical or operative context. With increasing experience and ability to recognize patterns that are familiar, this approach is fast, frugal and consumes little mental energy. (For more info on pattern recognition, visit life skills page in this website).

Types of Decisions – Rational vs. Biased

All the decisions we take are categorized into rational and biased decisions. Rational decisions weigh the options in terms of practicality, take in valid information and produce reliable results. On the other hand, biased decisions have an underlying factor that diverts the entire process in the wrong direction. Let us not delve too much into biased decisions, instead let us look into what calls for making a rational one.

Rational decision-making broadly constitutes following steps

Understanding the problem – Identify decision criteria – Weighing the criteria – Identifying alternatives- Critically evaluating alternatives – Making choice of alternative – Implementation.

1. Treat every vital decision as a task or a new project

2. Perform the above exercise diligently. It is best to put it on paper

3. Collect thorough information from all reliable sources without biases.

4. Critically analyze the information according to the established and weighed criteria

5. Also write down the list of probable consequences or impact of the decisions.

6. Pen down ways to deal with every probable output.

7. Make sure no outcome has uncontrollable consequences.

8. In such case, re-engineer the entire process and start from step one.

9. Do not risk when the path is obscure.

10. Seek appropriate guidance and support before quickly arriving at decisions.

Controlling impulses and instincts

Controlling our instincts is a challenging step in making choices. We often pick up those options which superficially appeal to us, bring instant pleasure or compensate lost time or money. The normal tendency is to use past memory, outdated information and quick impulses to come up with solutions to new issues. We ignore the fact that problems arise from new dimensions which are totally unaware to us. Outcomes suffer when we exhibit:

Get it done attitude - We fail to control the urge of completing the task and relaxing, rather than concentrating on the process
Lack of patience – Compromising on the quality of data collected and setting a time frame to finish instead of enduring the journey.
Ignoring the end result – Reluctance to plan future
Self- Comforting moods – Indulging in procrastination, not attaching value to process, seeking quick-fixes and ready-made solutions.
Copy-cat behavior – Lack of courage to take decisions on own. The confronting issues disturb till there is a compulsion to copy someone in the same situation, but fail to realize playgrounds are different for different people and results are to be borne by self and not others.
Emotional instability – Failing to cope up with stress leading to various psychological and emotional disturbances. Lack of exposure leads to the creation of an imaginary shell which is hard to break.

Now when we understand these limitations, we bring in conscious decision-making.

Conscious vs. Subconscious Decision Making

In major decisions like foraying into investments, starting a business venture, purchasing an asset, choosing relationships, making a career change, etc. the risk factor increases, because the effect of their consequences lasts for a considerable period. These decisions are made with utmost consciousness, following rules and complying with the procedures.

Conscious decisions are found to be the differentiating factor that makes a leader. Hence, we have to strive to take time before quickly making choices. Unconscious decisions anyway happen inadvertently, but when we realize incident are beyond unconscious or subconscious levels, there is that bridge which you need to cross to arrive at a fully aware and conscious decision.

Choices are the hinges of our destiny – Edwin Markham