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.

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

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

Most popular

History of napalm origins at Harvard

A new book traces napalm's invention to Harvard—and its evolution from heroic discovery to pariah

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

Explore More From Current Issue

Three hands hold smartphones displaying social media profiles with likes and hearts.

Tell us about how social media impacts your daily life.

A vase of yellow flowers on a table next to an orange and a glass.

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.

A football player in a white jersey evades a defender in a green uniform on the field.

Despite personnel losses, Crimson captain Xaviah Bascon is upbeat about the 2026 season.