Daily tasks and actions require more decisions than most of us may realize, that is until we’re given limited time to make them. Decision making under the pressure of time is a daunting prospect to many, one that is present in numerous aspects of our daily lives: writing an exam, deciding which clothes to wear in the morning, or even in a friendly game of soccer. Naturally, we would assume that if we had less time to perform a task or make decisions, the outcome would be less favourable, right? Well, not necessarily.
In agreement with the general conception of making time-sensitive decisions, there are many studies that do indeed find that subjects required to make choices or decisions within a deadline become more anxious and in some cases, even more energetic. These characteristics reflect an increased awareness of the need to work harder, since the amount of time available to make the decisions is less. Thus, the presence of a deadline will always impose extra demand on the decision maker. As well, time pressure can also result in an increased speed of information processing.
Decision making (Found at: http://users.bible.org/sites/users.bible.org/files/u21652/decisionmaking.jpg)
Time pressure also has an interesting effect on the strategy of our decision making. A study that employed a simple computer game found that under time pressure, the subjects were more likely to maintain a strategy of decision making (i.e. a certain path in the game) that they were previously comfortable with, even if they knew the strategy was obsolete. An explanation given for this was that in an unfamiliar environment that requires choice, an obsolete strategy will still provide feedback to the subject, which always presents more information than is relevant to the situation and can be used in anticipating new events in a different context. The study also found that deviation from a strategy was associated with more intense thinking.
Time is crucial in decision making. (Found at: http://img.wikinut.com/img/vvkxll4–q_x5fu4/jpeg/0/Time-is-crucial-in-decision-making..jpeg)
As we can see, the effects of time pressure on decision making is very real. However, is it possible to trick our brain into perceiving time differently?
Apparently it is.
A study has found that indeed, time pressure “is all in our heads”. Subjects who were given a task and told that there was sufficient time for completion outperformed those who were advised that the time was insufficient to complete the same task. It was also found that subjects given ample time for the task did not perform those who were given less time; in this case, no advising on time was provided so the subjects therefore had similar perceptions of time pressure. The results of the study also support the variable state activation theory (VSAT), which states that ability is impacted by an individual’s perception of time being sufficient or inefficient to complete a task.
Interestingly, the effect of time pressure on our abilities to make decisions and complete tasks is ultimately psychological. This suggests that with practice, perhaps we will be able to control our perception of time and therefore negate the effects of time pressure on our abilities to make decisions and complete tasks.
– Curtis M
