Decision-making competence in schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia face important life decisions about their health and finances. However, deficits in inhibitory and attentional processes may undermine their decision-making competence. Research on decision making in schizophrenia has mainly focused on decisions under risk or ambiguity, identifying selective impairments in rewards processing, but several important facets of decision-making competence have not been investigated. The present research aims to address this knowledge gap by investigating two key aspects of decision-making competence: (1) the ability to correctly apply strategies for choosing among options with multiple attributes, such as consumer products or health care plans, and (2) the ability to choose options with the best future outcomes regardless of irrecoverable past investments – also referred to as “sunk costs”.