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

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

Sheila Jasanoff has spent her career studying how societies produce knowledge, evaluate expertise, and make decisions about technology.

Harvard’s Arthur Kleinman reflects on what’s lost when healthcare systems prioritize efficiency.

Most popular

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

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

Explore More From Current Issue

Caricature of a young man in front of red doors, wearing a green striped sweater.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.

Portrait of a man in a denim shirt beside a blue book cover for "Gretal and the Great War" featuring an illustration of a leg holding an army helmet..

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.