The Issue of a Speed-Accuracy Trade-off during Decision Making Process: An article review

The trade-off between speed and accuracy is a basic general feature of human performance; if a situation requires a high degree of speed, the individual inescapable sacrifices an accuracy and vice versa. The speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) refers to an inverse relation between speed and accuracy in psychological researches. The present review focuses on two basic models in the approach of information processing; firstly, Pachella's Model (1974) is called Idealized Speed–Accuracy Operating Characteristic model, and the second model is The Diffusion Model, for Ratcliff' (1978). (1978). However, the detection of its mechanisms in more complex processes, such as decision-making as a cognitive process did not receive scientific attention until now. Therefore, this paper reviews partial explanations provided about the SAT in the decision-making process with reference to those studies that revealed opposite results, particularly in both complex and time stress situations.
The review concluded that most decision-making researches is based on an initial assumption of an inverse relation between the speed and accuracy of the decision with partial interest in processing the accuracy or speed of the decision without verifying the generality of the inverse relationship between them. So, the need for further research, analysis and interpretation, as well as the role of information processing in supporting or rejecting assumptions about SAT in decision-making.