Decisionmaking, Measured

A new interdisciplinary decision-science lab will host experiments from psychology, economics, and beyond.

Photograph courtesy of Harvard Kennedy School

Photograph courtesy of Harvard Kennedy School

The new Decision Science Lab, which opened in January, allows researchers to measure physiological markers of emotion—blood pressure, heart rate, facial muscle activation—to study subjects’ mental states at the moment of making a decision. The lab belongs to the Kennedy School, but is open to all Harvard faculty members and their students. Read more online at www.harvardmag.com/breaking-news/where-decisionmaking-is-measured.

You might also like

A theatrical reenactment explores a 1976 clash between science and democracy.

Harvard scientists identify hundreds of genes under selective pressure.

Growing liver implants, mapping the sense of smell, and journalism at risk

Most popular

The Supreme Court Affirmative Action Rulings: An Analysis

The underlying arguments project clashing worldviews of race and appropriate remedies.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history

Explore More From Current Issue

Black and white photo of Joseph Murray in a white lab coat sitting in an office.

Nobel Prize recipient Joseph E. Murray dedicated much of his career to organ transplant surgery.

Singer performing on stage with a guitar, wearing a hat, and surrounded by band instruments.

Singer Elisa Smith’s whiskey-soaked voice and subversive feminism is part of the genre’s urban shift.

Label showing the anatomy of a worker bee, featuring a detailed illustration.

Science and art capture the microscopic natural world.