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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a...
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The human mind is a remarkable device. Nevertheless, it is not without limits. Recently, a growing body of research has focused on a particular mental limitation, which has to do with our ability to use a mental trait known as executive function. When you focus on a specific task for an extended period of time or choose to eat a salad instead of a piece of cake, you are flexing your executive function muscles. Both thought processes require conscious effort-you have to resist the temptation to let your mind wander or to indulge in the sweet dessert. It turns out, however, that use of executive function—a talent we all rely on throughout the day—draws upon a single resource of limited capacity in the brain. When this resource is exhausted by one activity, our mental capacity may be severely hindered in another, seemingly unrelated activity. (See here and here.)
Imagine, for a moment, that you are facing a very difficult decision about which of two job offers to accept. One position offers good pay and job security, but is pretty mundane, whereas the other job is really interesting and offers reasonable pay, but has questionable job security. Clearly you can go about resolving this dilemma in many ways. Few people, however, would say that your decision should be affected or influenced by whether or not you resisted the urge to eat cookies prior to contemplating the job offers. A decade of psychology research suggests otherwise. Unrelated activities that tax the executive function have important lingering effects, and may disrupt your ability to make such an important decision. In other words, you might choose the wrong job because you didn't eat a cookie.
Taxing Tasks
But what types of actions exhaust executive function and affect subsequent decision-making? Until recently, researchers focused on activities that involved the exertion of self-control or the regulation of attention. For instance, it's long been recognized that strenuous cognitive tasks—such as taking the SAT—can make it harder to focus later on. But recent results suggests that these taxing mental activities may be much broader in scope-and may even involve the very common activity of making choices itself. In a series of experiments and field studies, University of Minnesota psychologist Kathleen Vohs and colleagues repeatedly demonstrate that the mere act of making a selection may deplete executive resources. For example, in one study the researchers found that participants who made more choices in a mall were less likely to persist and do well in solving simple algebra problems. In another task in the same study, students who had to mark preferences about the courses they would take to satisfy their degree requirements were much more likely to procrastinate on preparing for an important test. Instead of studying, these "tired" minds engaged in distracting leisure activities.
Why is making a determination so taxing? Evidence implicates two important components: commitment and tradeoff resolution. The first is predicated on the notion that committing to a given course requires switching from a state of deliberation to one of implementation. In other words, you have to make a transition from thinking about options to actually following through on a decision. This switch, according to Vohs, requires executive resources. In a parallel investigation, Yale University professor Nathan Novemsky and his colleagues suggest that the mere act of resolving tradeoffs may be depleting. For example, in one study, the scientists show that people who had to rate the attractiveness of different options were much less depleted than those who had to actually make choices between the very same options.
Choosy about Choices
These findings have important real world implications. If making choices depletes executive resources, then "downstream" decisions might be affected adversely when we are forced to choose with a fatigued brain. Indeed, University of Maryland psychologist Anastasiya Pocheptsova and colleagues found exactly this effect: individuals who had to regulate their attention—which requires executive control—made significantly different choices than people who did not. These different choices follow a very specific pattern: they become reliant on more a more simplistic, and often inferior, thought process, and can thus fall prey to perceptual decoys. For example, in one experiment participants who were asked to ignore interesting subtitles in an otherwise boring film clip were much more likely to choose an option that stood next to a clearly inferior "decoy"—an option that was similar to one of the good choices, but was obviously not quite as good—than participants who watched the same clip but were not asked to ignore anything. Presumably, trying to control one's attention and to ignore an interesting cue exhausted the limited resource of the executive functions, making it significantly more difficult to ignore the existence of the otherwise irrelevant inferior decoy. Subjects with overtaxed brains made worse decisions.
These experimental insights suggest that the brain works like a muscle: when depleted, it becomes less effective. Furthermore, we should take this knowledge into account when making decisions. If we've just spent lots of time focusing on a particular task, exercising self-control or even if we've just made lots of seemingly minor choices, then we probably shouldn't try to make a major decision. These deleterious carryover effects from a tired brain may have a strong shaping effect on our lives.
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43 Comments
Add CommentPlease give references for this article if there are any published.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisplease cite references for this article
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis information is extremely interesting, and has a lot of potential value. The only problem I find with this article as it stands is that there is no study information on when and how executive function replenishes itself, and how long it takes. I intend to research this more.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisArticle contains the following information:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"University of Minnesota psychologist Kathleen Vohs and colleagues "
websearch finds:
Kathleen Vohs
Suite 3-150 321 19th Avenue South
Marketing Department
Carlson School of Management
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
U.S.A.
Home Page
Phone: (612) 825-8331
Fax: (612) 824-8804
Email: vohsx005@umn.edu
More on Kathleen Vohs and the 2008 paper
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisfound at:
http://www.csom.umn.edu/Page6301.aspx
"Making Choices Impairs Subsequent Self-Control: A Limited-Resource Account of Decision Making, Self-Regulation, and Active Initiative," Kathleen D. Vohs, Roy F. Baumeister, Brandon J. Schmeichel, Jean M. Twenge, Noelle M. Nelson, and Dianne M. Tice, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (May 2008).
This might explain why I procrastinate after a hard day at the office.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if consistently "working" executive function will increase it's strength over time? Elders are encouraged to stay mentally active to help prevent or postpone dementia, but it would be interesting to know if the same is true for this mental process...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder what implications this has for political decision making. Perhaps voters who are stressed by economic, social and cultural changes find it impossible to apply logical processes to decision making when it comes to elections.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHmmm ... could this explain the outcomes of the last two presidential races?
This is the first time I've seen something that matches my symptoms. For over 3 years I've slowly went downhill in my ability to accomplish tasks. To the point now that I'm unable to hold a job and even the simplest household chores are difficult to accomplish.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm going to have to follow this and although I know they aren't near far enough along to recommend therapy or medication, it's cause for hope.
And what chemicals are involved in this process? Another article please to indicate if drugs alleviate mental stress.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKathleen D. Vohs is the McKnight Land-Grant Professor at the University of Minnesota and assistant professor at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. After receiving her Ph.D. in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Dartmouth College in 2000, Vohs conducted research at the University of Utah and Case Western Reserve University under a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt last I understand why I find clothes shopping such a mentally and physically demanding experience !!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'll need to add this to the reasons for procrastination
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDid anyone else think "So THAT'S why longer meetings actually accomplish less!" ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSojourner -
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI doubt this explains the last two presidential elections, but it may explain how Obama got the Dem nomination - the Left is so emotionally distraught and spent that it couldn't make a good decision. I suspect a host of other factors impacted all these decisions.
The limited nature of the executive resource ties in with branding. As expressed in "The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini, branding works because people make the same choice again and again (to conserve this resource) rather than go through the decision making process each and every time they chose a product. (It's why I choose the same type of coffee every morning, despite the selection of 10 types at my disposal.)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the other hand, in "The Paradox of Choice" by Barry Schwartz, the argument is that "less is more"; that limited choice is better than too much choice. He argues that wading through a dizzying array of choice is not only over-taxing, but that we can't even be happy with our choices. That's because the amount of stuff we didn't choose begins to vastly out-weight the stuff we did choose, so that the possibility of having made the "best" decision decreases rapidly. Too much choice, it seems, reduces our overall satisfaction.
The unfortunate moral, however, is that because branding works, brands will be increasingly built around differentiating minutia. Thus we are doomed to being increasingly dissatisfied with increasingly overwhelming decisions on the most trivial of things. (As more and more coffee brands appear on the scene, you'll become less and less satisfied with the coffee you seem to keep choosing. I guess that morning cup of coffee will never be the same again.)
Commitment and tradeoff resolution seemed to be described in exactly the same way here -- both concern making a switch from just thinking about options to actually deciding on an option. What's the difference?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Internet must play a role in people's inability to make decisions beyond what website to go to. I make decisions on a daily basis and sometimes I put off decisions. I'm recovering still from going to college, which was a huge decision. I can't afford more school right now though. Each decision I made to do my homework lent to more exhaustion. So you can see why the article is somewhat right.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy questions are:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1) How is this function "rested"? By not using it for a while? By eating certain foods?
2) Can you build this "muscle" to be stronger, like other muscles?
Wardish: What you describe sounds more like depression than the sort of fatigue the article is describing. I would expect simple mental fatigue to recover after a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. Please consult a doctor on your symptoms. There are many proven therapies for what you are describing, from diet and exercise to medication and behavior therapies. I wish you all the best in making a recovery.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps this dovetails with what Malcolm Gladwell says about snap judgments. Not only might they be more effective than we might think, but they may save valuable, limited brain resources.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is interesting and raises a couple of timing questions touched on by Grimmie64 and jen_v. Years ago I worked as a programmer and also played three days of tournament duplicate bridge about one weekend out of three. After a while I observed that I played better bridge after a week in which I worked on very tough problems than when I did not. Playing bridge requires a huge amount of information gathering and of decision-making. A way of saving mental energy in bridge is via "Satisficing", or the making a decision based on the first reasonable construction of opponent hands rather than on a construction of a set of alternatives and deciding their relative likelihoods. It may be there is a short-term loss for making decisions but a medium-term gain to compensate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDon't stress yourself when making decisions, and if your emotional state is not stable, delay your decision making process for later, gives you more time to think of the situation and the outcomes of your decision.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if the analogy holds between the brain and a muscle? Would extensive training in using more and more executive function increase ones mental endurance. Could it be similiar to how working on harder and or newer issues increases ones cognitive abilities?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAha. So, when a car salesman asks us to choose between options for color, stereo, GPS, seats, number of doors, and transmission, he is really wearing us down for the big one: whether to buy the thing at all, and at what price. (Is anyone surprised by this?)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe thesis demonstrates the wisdom in the proverb "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. We need to allow ourselves to replenish the glucose that is lost during a challenging cognitive behaviors. Workaholism besides being a avoidance behavior, decreases our productivity. We have finite energy we can put into productive inquiry before reaching what Thomas Malthus's defined as "point of dimminishing return". Malthus asserts that there's once a certain theshold is crossed any further imput decreases output
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have same questions as posed by "mvargas." This article seems incomplete without some insight into how to replenish this resource. It would be nice to point out some foods or exercise to better the decision making process. If resting is an option, how long to rest after how much thinking?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI can partially answer the how to replenish question. It is easy really. Get 8 hours of quality sleep each night. Avoid meat and dairy. Eat a lot of veggies and fruit. Turn off the tv and get several hours of physical activity each day.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTrying to "exercise" executive function may not strengthen it if you are not careful. If you over work a muscle it becomes strained and can't be used as much until it recovers. I think that when it comes to executive function we call that depression.
Dear Wardish: I suffered the same syndrome as yours. Is there any medicine for it? I always succeed in finding a job through tough interview but I am always denied any chance of working long with that job because the so-call incompetency. I feel bitter to confess it with my wife.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDavid Wang
There is no mention here of
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnother recent study (I don't have a reference) shows that people who take a 20 minute walk each day perform significantly better than those who don't. The study was specific to walking. If you aren't walking 20 minutes a day, you should start immediately, if you are able. It is probably important to make this habit so it is not another executive decision. People who advise on creating habits say that something done 17 days in a row tends to become a habit, so you could use that as a guide.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI get tired just thinking about this. {**snare-drum**cymbal**}
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis probably explains why people who are extremely self-conscious or social phobic are very often consumed by mental exhaustion. It would also be worth while studying whether creative people have an over active executive. As they tend to find it very difficult to switch from playing with the decision process to actually implementing their ideas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis subject is interesting indeed. But i like to go to common sense as much as possible. The key factor for bad judgement or desition making for me is oxigen supply to the brain. This is simple to experiment. Just do more excercise and you will definetly a stronger mind capability. Or do the oposite; for the ones who climb mountains know that when you reach certin levels of altitude (lack of oxigen) is easy to observe that judgement capability goes way lower to almost a point where there is no energy to decide anything. So certin foods maybe be connnected to this flow of oxigen to our brain?..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVery interesting subject. I d like to make this comment which simple to try yourself. I think that main key factor for proper judgement ability for the brain is the supply of oxigen. To prove this just climb and mountain or place where you will have a depleted amount of oxigen and your judgement ability will decrease as oxigen falls. Another easy way to prove this is when you exercise. Do proper exercising and your mental abilities will increse notably. You will have a better and stronger mind. Now foods may increase or decrese this avalability i e. people who eat too much are usually deppressed more than people who eats healthier and do exercise. Each brain now needs its own amount of oxigen according to race, environment, etc. so just find your tune on proper oxigen balance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs this where the old addage "sleep on it, then make your decision" comes from? I have tried "sleeping on it" when faced with tough decisions and it [sleeping on it] really does facilitate the decision making process.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article was very interesting. I find that it actually is true when I look back upon different events that have taken place in my life. I can not help but wonder if this is the reason why the older generations are now using crossword puzzles, and sudokus, to retain their brain functions. Is the old addage correct? Use it or lose it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi recently practiced a very difficult piano part for a musical for about three hours. When it became time to play it about an hour later, I struggled--a lot. I wondered if using a particular area of the brain exhausted the brain.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPersonal meaning also has not been included in the quotient. I would speculate that tolerance for making multiple decisions would be increased if the decisions save energy or provide something of value to the decider. Inherent pleasure or talent of the subject would also be a factor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn that line of thinking, it would be curious to test some specific group as a control on the far end that specializes in decision making. I would suggest this group might be Alexander Technique teachers. They teach a discipline that involves making multiple intentional decisions to follow non-habitual means toward the goal of improving freedom of movement, skill training & awareness.
The "executive brain" has been linked to the conative domain of the mind, which controls pre-cognitive actions, reactions and interaction. Conation, triggered by instinct, is an universal, renewable, but finite source of mental energy. It operates with a hierachy that allows you to take action with levels that begin with intention, climb toward commitment, and culminate at purposefulness.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor info on my work on conation go to google's knol, and look up "conation", also www.kolbe.com
This is quite interesting! I have been blogging on the joys of indecision and making choices and would love the references and to know more about the science of decision making. Also, it seems I may be doing more harm than i could have imagined in relishing in my decision making process. Something to think about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Savvy Sampler
thesavvysampler.com
This is quite interesting! I have been blogging on the joys of indecision and making choices and would love the references and to know more about the science of decision making. Also, it seems I may be doing more harm than i could have imagined in relishing in my decision making process. Something to think about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Savvy Sampler
thesavvysampler.com
This is quite interesting! I have been blogging on the joys of indecision and making choices and would love the references and to know more about the science of decision making. Also, it seems I may be doing more harm than i could have imagined in relishing in my decision making process. Something to think about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Savvy Sampler
thesavvysampler.com