Ever-So-Slight Delay Improves Decision-Making Accuracy

Some decisions need to be made in the blink of an eye, but a new study in PLoS ONE found that delaying decision by just a fraction of a second can significantly improve the accuracy of the decision. To make a decision, the brain must integrate a variety of information, including things that seem to contradict each other and information that distracts from the decision. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh asked study participants to determine a swarm of what looked like randomly moving dots was moving. Half the participants were asked to be as quick as possible, and half were asked to be as accurate as possible. The scientists found that a slight delay of 50 to 100 milliseconds before making the decision improved their accuracy. Although the process for delaying the decision is under cognitive control, individuals aren't necessarily conscious of using it, and the researchers hope to find ways to bring it under conscious control to help individuals with disorders like ADHD.

Read the complete article from Columbia University Medical Center here:  Ever-So-Slight Delay Improves Decision-Making Accuracy