By the end of this lesson, students will be able to clearly define decision-making and explain its primary purpose in meeting unmet needs and supporting survival, using specific examples related to daily life and personal goals.
Students will apply adaptive decision-making techniques by completing a weekly needs assessment and identifying at least one unmet need, demonstrating a routine for addressing needs that can reduce decision-related anxiety and improve decision-making efficiency.
Lesson 1.2
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to accurately identify and describe the two primary decision-making systems in the brain (Automatic and Deliberate) and explain how each system supports different types of decision-making needs based on energy use, familiarity, and complexity and the role of the ACC.
Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze real-life scenarios and determine which decision-making system will likely be in use by recognizing contextual clues such as familiarity, urgency, and emotional triggers.
Lesson 1.3
Apply Understanding of Up-Regulation Triggers to Real-Life Scenarios
When presented with various everyday scenarios (e.g., deciding on a career change, handling a routine task), students will accurately identify whether the scenario would trigger an up-regulation to the Deliberate system or a reliance on the Automatic system, demonstrating a clear understanding of “struggling moments.”
Analyze Down-Regulation Factors and Assess Their Impact on Decision-Making
Given a list of internal and external down-regulation factors (e.g., time pressure, high emotions), students will analyze and assess how these factors impact decision-making, accurately explaining when and why the brain may revert to the Automatic system to conserve resources.
Lesson 1.4
Learners will effectively apply observation and assessment tools, such as the Weekly Needs Assessment (WNA) and Optimal Decision Making Eval, to collect and interpret relevant information for decision-making situations.
Learners will demonstrate the ability to gather and provide accurate, current, and contextual information to enhance the functionality of the Deliberate decision-making system, leading to improved decision-making outcomes.