Risk, judgement and decision making

We make choices every day

We study how people think, judge, take risks and make decisions in situations of uncertainty and risk.

Some examples of what we've studied include:

• whether older drivers are taking appropriate risks when driving a car
• whether people appropriately perceive health-related risks, climate-change-related risks, and risks of natural disasters and how should these be communicated to stakeholders to understand these risks better
• what makes people choose to adopt environmentally friendly behaviours and ways of living
• how should we design tube maps to facilitate quick and accurate decision-making of travellers
• how family physicians make decisions about diagnosis and treatment options and how can we support them to do less cognitive errors in these decisions
• how people judge whether something is fair or not
• which factors influence people’s decisions to enact prosocial behaviours or to undertake happiness-enhancing interventions.

We are interested in understanding the socio-cognitive mechanisms of these high-level cognitive processes using experimental behavioural techniques and their biological underpinnings using neuromodulatory techniques such transcranial magnetic stimulation, as well as carrying out surveys, interviews and focus groups. We are also interested in the applied aspects of risk taking, risk communication and decision-making.

Many of us also research related areas of interest such as well-being, relationships, sex, and attraction, and justice, fairness and equality.