<p>It's possible that there is no sharp threshold between information gathering and acting. A recent paper by Piantadosi exploring that possibility, and citing a ton of (admittedly more conventional/mainstream) work on decision boundaries is:</p>

<p>Alonso-Diaz S, Cantlon JF, Piantadosi ST (2018) A threshold-free model of numerosity comparisons. <em>PLoS ONE</em> 13(4): e0195188. doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195188" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1371/journal.pone.0195188</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-05T20:33:02.027Z
2018-06-12T08:05:12.660Z
2018-06-12T08:05:12.660Z
steveLangsford
<p>I'm curious what research there is about when/how people decide to stop evaluating or gathering evidence, and actually begin executing on an action, and how the order of information presented could therefore effect conclusions. Most of the articles I've found on this so far are related to premature closure in the area of medical diagnoses specifically -- i.e. when people make a diagnosis prematurely. However, it seems like this must be researched in psychology as well- I think I'm just missing the key terms to look at to find it. Any suggestions/idea of the research would be very helpful!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-24T04:49:35.927Z
The process of thinking about a decision before making it is called "[deliberation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliberation)" or "[reasoning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason)", and is part of "[decision-making](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision-making)".  The field of study of how decision-making is influenced by order of presentation of information and other non-rational factors is called "[cognitive bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias)", a prominent sub-field of which is "[behavioral economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics)".
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-06T09:10:59.730Z
Ty for the comments. Just for future reference, I found the Mindset Theory of Action Phases useful: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d7d1/8d5869ac4ba686978636945b3f1363a00c61.pdf
verybadatthis
<cognitive-psychology><social-psychology><bias><decision-making>
What research is there on how people go from examining/gathering evidence to executing on a decision?
verybadatthis
# What research is there on how people go from examining/gathering evidence to executing on a decision?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-23)

I'm curious what research there is about when/how people decide to stop evaluating or gathering evidence, and actually begin executing on an action, and how the order of information presented could therefore effect conclusions. Most of the articles I've found on this so far are related to premature closure in the area of medical diagnoses specifically -- i.e. when people make a diagnosis prematurely. However, it seems like this must be researched in psychology as well- I think I'm just missing the key terms to look at to find it. Any suggestions/idea of the research would be very helpful!

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, social-psychology, bias, decision-making

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The process of thinking about a decision before making it is called "[deliberation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliberation)" or "[reasoning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason)", and is part of "[decision-making](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision-making)".  The field of study of how decision-making is influenced by order of presentation of information and other non-rational factors is called "[cognitive bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias)", a prominent sub-field of which is "[behavioral economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics)".  
> **username_0**: Ty for the comments. Just for future reference, I found the Mindset Theory of Action Phases useful: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d7d1/8d5869ac4ba686978636945b3f1363a00c61.pdf  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-06-05. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

It's possible that there is no sharp threshold between information gathering and acting. A recent paper by Piantadosi exploring that possibility, and citing a ton of (admittedly more conventional/mainstream) work on decision boundaries is:

Alonso-Diaz S, Cantlon JF, Piantadosi ST (2018) A threshold-free model of numerosity comparisons. *PLoS ONE* 13(4): e0195188. doi: [10.1371/journal.pone.0195188](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195188)


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