Investigative decision making sits largely within the academic disciplines of cognitive and social psychology though it is also allied to criminology and sociology. It is an eclectic field of study based on scientific, empirical research. Investigative decision making draws on a lengthy body of research of general decision theory stretching back centuries. Some features of human decision making hold across any context, so traditional decision-making theory (TDT) findings are applicable to investigative decision making. As with other theories and models associated with generic decision making, game theory has a contribution to make to investigative decision making. Unlike TDT, naturalistic decision-making approaches take more account of the context in which decision makers operate. In TDT studies, participants in a lab study may be asked to decide which choices are more (or less) attractive. Investigative decision making has evolved from and is still influenced by early decision theory.