Don’t think twice about changing your mind

Researchers say a change of mind can often be the best decision. (Image: pixabay) If you've ever wondered whether changing your mind is the best decision, then you should be reassured that your chances of success are better if you do, according to University of Queensland research. Whether or not changes of mind are behaviourally beneficial has been the focus of a special review by cognitive neuroscientists, Professor Jason Mattingley and Dr Dragan Rangelov , at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI). "It seems that people change their mind on occasions when they have made an error to begin with, so a change of mind gives you the opportunity to do better," Dr Rangelov said. "But most people don't like changing their mind. "When given the opportunity to change their original decision, they won't switch." In a paper published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences , QBI researchers put a spotlight on metacognition - an important cognitive skill which is defined as 'thinking about thinking'. Dr Rangelov said the review was part of a larger study on measuring a person's readiness to change their mind as an index of their awareness of how well they are performing tasks.