Taking no action for a moment before making a final decision actually helps people come to better conclusions, according to research published in the journal PLoS One. Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York say that postponing the onset of the decision process by as little as 50 to 100 milliseconds allows the brain to block out distractors and focus on the most relevant information. "Decision-making isn't always easy, and sometimes we make errors on seemingly trivial tasks, especially if multiple sources of information compete for our attention," lead author Tobias Teichert, Ph.D., said in a survey announcement. "We have identified a novel mechanism that is surprisingly effective at improving response accuracy." Study