Cognitive and Neural Architecture of Decision Making Competence

Although cognitive neuroscience has made remarkable progress in understanding the neural foundations of goal-directed behavior and decision making, neuroscience research on decision making competence, the capacity to resist biases in human judgment and decision making, remain to be established. Here, we investigated the cognitive and neural mechanisms of decision making competence in 283 healthy young adults. We administered the Adult Decision Making Competence battery to assess the respondent’s capacity to resist standard biases in decision making, including: (1) resistance to framing, (2) recognizing social norms, (3) over/under confidence, (4) applying decision rules, (5) consistency in risk perception, and (6) resistance to sunk costs. Decision making competence was assessed in relation to core facets of intelligence, including measures of crystallized intelligence (Shipley Vocabulary), fluid intelligence (Figure Series), and logical reasoning (LSAT). Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the relationship(s) between each cognitive domain, followed by an investigation of their association with individual differences in cortical thickness, cortical surface area, and cortical gray matter volume as measured by high-resolution structural MRI. The results suggest that: (i) decision making competence is associated with cognitive operations for logical reasoning, and (ii) these convergent processes are associated with individual differences within cortical regions that are widely implicated in cognitive control (left dACC) and social decision making (right superior temporal sulcus; STS). Our findings motivate an integrative framework for understanding the neural mechanisms of decision making competence, suggesting that individual differences in the cortical surface area of left dACC and right STS are associated with the capacity to overcome decision biases and exhibit competence in decision makingThe work was supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), through Contract 2014-13121700004 with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (PI: Barbey). Francisco J. Román and Roberto Colom are also supported by Grant PSI2017-82218-P (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Spain

Aspects of the Assessment and Intervention with Memory and Executive Functions in People with Neurological Conditions

This thesis examined two contemporary conundrums relevant to the practice of neuropsychology. Through systematic review and meta-analysis, the first project examined the treatment effects of errorless learning (EL) a compensatory technique designed to facilitate learning for people with memory impairment resulting from neurological conditions. This review of EL in the field of memory rehabilitation is timely. To date, there is only one meta-analysis of the treatment effects of EL, completed nearly twenty years ago which did not control for potential biases. Subsequently there has been a natural progression in the use of EL from well-controlled laboratory-based tasks to its integration into memory rehabilitation programmes. In addition to examining the overall effect of EL in people with amnesic disorders, this review was also the first to report the treatments effects from studies of patients with progressive conditions separately from studies of non-progressive neurological conditions. Results indicate that EL is an effective technique to help people with memory disorders learn new information. This informs clinicians of the appropriateness of its use in practice. However, potential publication bias was identified, along with variation in methodology and quality of the studies reviewed and analysed. Until steps are taken to produce studies which are suffice in size, well controlled and the publication of non-significant results are encouraged, caution must be applied to avoid over-estimating the clinical benefits of EL to patients. The second element of this project aimed to investigate issues around long-reported concerns of a lack of correspondence between test performance on neuropsychological measures and everyday decision-making ability in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Reduced decision-making capacity is a common consequence of ABI. The results can have devastating consequences for an individual and the support systems around them. Accurate assessment of a person’s decision-making ability is crucial to inform support needs. This project examined this issue with a service evaluation in a specialist cognitive rehabilitation service. The evaluation explored the relationships between standardised tests of cognitive function and a custom clinician-rated measure of everyday decision-making. Results provide evidence towards the accuracy of the tests used in the service to assess the cognitive components of decision-making. The results also evidence how elements of the assessment battery employed by the service meet existing clinical standards. This evaluation suggests that at a group level, despite concerns in the literature around a lack of ecological validity, tests of executive function are more useful in the assessment of decision-making than those from broader cognitive domains. In addition, the results identify a specific measure of planning to be important in the assessment of decision-making. This work informs clinicians in the service on how to approach the cognitive assessment of decision-making and evidence some potential for modifications in their battery. These results could lead to increased accuracy of assessment, with increased potential for patient challenges in this domain to be identified. This review may also provide a framework for other services on how to approach evidencing their standard of cognitive assessment of decision-making, despite the lack of specific national guidelines

Unpacking the Upper Echelon’s Cognitive Black Box: A Qualitative Study of Selective Attention and Decision Making in Senior Executives

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, senior executives face a myriad of difficult decisions. These decisions are often accompanied by a barrage of stimuli, which can complicate decision-making processes. To traverse these challenges, those in the upper echelons of leadership must manage their selective attention well, make clear sense of unfolding events, and act upon them in ways that maximize organization outcomes. However, there is a gap in research around how the upper echelons of leadership manage their selective attention in high-stimuli decision scenarios. This qualitative grounded theory research addresses this gap by studying the cognitive processes used by senior military executives to manage their limited attentional resources in such environments. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews of a purposive and snowball sampled group of 18 recently retired senior military officers who held key strategic positions during their time in service. Interviews were transcribed, coded using open and axial techniques, and analyzed to develop a grounded theory of how the upper echelons of leadership navigate information-saturated, high-stimuli environments and manage their limited attentional resources when making high-consequence decisions. Findings show that executives rely heavily on the team of people around them while taking steps to create mental space, and then doing the best they can to gather and prioritize information, given time constraints. This model suggests the top management teams play a central role in helping senior executives manage their limited attention, which can shape how senior executives are chosen and developed