Coffee or tea? Meat or fish? Potatoes or salad? According to a study carried out by researchers at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (United States), when choosing between two options, half a second is enough.
As the results of the research published online in the journal Nature Neuroscience suggest, when choosing between two attractive possibilities, people often examine the options by repeatedly switching from one to the other, probably as a way to compare the two. alternatives. And they usually choose the one in which they fix their eyes for the longest time .
The researchers, led by Antonio Rangel, asked hungry volunteers to choose from pairs of palatable snacks that they themselves had previously claimed they liked equally. Participants were allowed to examine both items until they selected the one they preferred. While choosing, the scientists monitored the visual attention of the individuals. Thus, Rangel and his colleagues found that participants chose the option they examined for an additional half second about 70 percent of the time.
