Integrative approach to cognitive parameters in decision making

Abstract

Decisions are pervasive phenomena in everyday life. Two predominant factors in decision-making theory are uncertainty and risk. Nevertheless, there are other cognitive aspects whose roles have recently gained attention in the literature. Those aspects include information acquisition strategies, scenario complexity, the dynamic and/or static aspect of choice scenarios, and the time-frame for the tasks. We propose a selective review and an integrative account as a way to argue for the theoretical importance of logically combining those different factors. The main argument is that the factors involved do not play independent roles, rather they can modulate each other´s influence given varying levels of the interactions between factors. The importance of better understanding such interactions lays on the choice of strategies that decision makers use to choose. Finally, theoretical, methodological and managerial contributions and implications relating to such approach are discussed.