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

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

The University has pushed the adoption of AI into teaching and operations, but faculty resistance is growing louder.

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

Explore More From Current Issue

Two laboratory researchers, one seated and one standing, in a scientific lab with equipment.

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

A glowing bulb shape surrounded by colorful, swirling energy lines against a blue background.

Harvard researchers achieve medical breakthroughs in cancer therapy and infection control.

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.