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This conversation about making decisions has a lot to do with central vs. peripheral processing.  How and why does one make different decisions at different times?  And once we have made a decision, why is it that we so often come to regret it?

For the person who is seriously considering choosing between 2 cars, for example, central processing is key.  If they see a commercial for a car they are interested in, they pay great attention to things like the argument of the commercial and the authority of whatever source is advertising it; this is because they are heavily invested in the choice and are using all of their mental faculties to make it wisely.  The case is different for someone who is not actively looking to buy a car.  They employ peripheral processing because they are much less invested and therefore think more "distractedly"--they are attracted to a commercial that, while it might not make a good argument, features a well-known celebrity or flashy pictures.  Another interesting facet of these two kinds of processing is that central processing tends to take place when one is in a bad mood, while those in a good mood are more likely to use peripheral processing.

Central vs. peripheral processing is not just important in advertising but in all types of decision-making, including something like the Monty Hall Dilemma.  While solving this puzzle, are humans employing peripheral or central processing? If the fuschia dot "can sometimes make it hard to "make decisions,"" would "turning it off" lead to more central or peripheral processing, and how would this affect performance on the MHD?  Do humans and birds use two different types of processing while solving the MHD, or different versions of either peripheral or central processing?  And what accounts for the differences between the two versions, if any?