What are decision-making / reasoning skills?
Decision-making is the process of choosing what to do by considering the possible consequences of different choices (Beyth-Marom, Fischhoff, Jacobs-Quadrel, & Furby, 1991; von Winterfeldt & Edwards, 1986). Reasoning skills are utilized in the decision-making process and refer to specific cognitive abilities, some of which include assessing probability and thinking systematically or abstractly (Fischhoff, Crowell, & Kipke, 1999). The basic process that decision-makers use when confronted with a decision involves: a) listing relevant choices, b) identifying potential consequences of each choice, c) assessing the likelihood of each consequence actually occurring, d) determining the importance of these consequences, and e) combining all this information to decide which choice is the most appealing (Beyth-Marom et al., 1991). Many different factors influence how adolescents (and adults) make decisions (Fischhoff et al., 1999). These may include cognitive, psychological, social, cultural, an
