Chapter 14

Question 1

actor-critic learning model

Answer 1

A framework for learning that posits two independent elements: a critic that learns rules mapping actions to rewards, and an actor that learns the optimal policy for selecting actions.

Question 2

altruistic punishment

Answer 2

An action taken to harm another individual, at personal cost, in order to enforce a social norm (e.g., sacrificing one’s own money in order to punish someone who cheats in a game).

Question 3

ambiguity aversion

Answer 3

The tendency to prefer choice options whose outcome probabilities are known over options with unknown probabilities (i.e., that have ambiguity).

Question 4

behavioral economics

Answer 4

A new social science discipline that combines elements of traditional economics and psychology to explain real-world decisions, including observed biases in choice.

Question 5

bounded rationality

Answer 5

The idea that biological limitations on cognitive processing prevent people from making decisions or from reasoning in a fully rational manner.

Question 6

dopamine

Answer 6

A catecholamine neurotransmitter involved in learning and reward evaluation, among other roles in the nervous system of humans and other animals.

Question 7

drift-diffusion model

Answer 7

A mathematical description of decision making behavior in terms of competing processes that drift in a random-walk fashion toward boundaries. Also called diffusion decision model.

Question 8

dual-system model

Answer 8

A framework for decision making that posits the existence of two independent systems—typically, a fast emotional system and a slower cognitive system—whose interactions over time predict choices.

Question 9

endowment effect

Answer 9

A bias in decision making in which people will pay less to buy something than they would accept to sell the same thing, if they already possessed it.

Question 10

expected utility

Answer 10

The personal value (i.e., utility) placed on the potential outcome of a decision, as derived from the combination of the value and probability of its potential outcomes.

Question 11

expected value

Answer 11

The average value in a particular currency (e.g., dollars) of the potential outcome of a decision as weighted by the relative probabilities of those outcomes.

Question 12

fictive learning

Answer 12

The adjustment of rules for behavior based on reward outcomes that were observed, but not received directly.

Question 13

framing effect

Answer 13

A mode of representing a decision-making scenario that changes the decisions people make, even though the basic structure of the problem is left unchanged.

Question 14

game theory

Answer 14

A subfield of behavioral economics that investigates how people make decisions in simple, well controlled games.

Question 15

habit

Answer 15

A well-established pattern of thought or behavior.

Question 16

heuristic

Answer 16

A rule or procedure derived from past experience that can be used to solve a problem (e.g., in decision making, perception, or some other aspect of cognition).

Question 17

hyperscanning

Answer 17

An fMRI technique in which data are collected simultaneously across more than one MRI scanner, often while individuals are playing a multiplayer game.

Question 18

Iowa Gambling Task

Answer 18

An experimental paradigm, developed by Antonio Damasio and colleagues at the University of Iowa, that tests subjects’ sensitivity to risk and reward; the test reveals that patients with damage to the inferior prefrontal cortex tend to make risk-seeking choices.

Question 19

lateral intraparietal area (LIP)

Answer 19

Also called area LIP. A part of the inferior parietal lobule that plays a key role in orienting attention and the eyes to a location in space.

Question 20

negative reinforcement

Answer 20

The removal of an aversive outcome following an action.

Question 21

neuroeconomics

Answer 21

Also called decision neuroscience. An emerging discipline that combines theoretical perspectives from neuroscience and economics, as well as other of the social sciences, in the creation of mechanistic models for behavior.

Question 22

neuromarketing

Answer 22

The use of measurements of physiology or brain function to shape the branding and advertising of consumer products.

Question 23

neurorealism

Answer 23

The tendency to consider a behavioral or mental phenomenon to be more real based on the presence of neuroscience data.

Question 24

nucleus accumbens

Answer 24

A subdivision of the ventral striatum that contains neurons sensitive to the neurotransmitter dopamine and contributes to learning and reward evaluation.

Question 25

primary reinforcer

Answer 25

Also called unconditioned reinforcer. A stimulus whose rewarding properties come from its salutary effects on homeostatic processes; food, water, warmth, and sex are examples.

Question 26

probability weighting

Answer 26

A core assumption of prospect theory, such that the subjective probability of an outcome can differ systematically from the objective probability.

Question 27

prospect theory

Answer 27

A quantitative decision-making model proposing that people make decisions in terms of the anticipated gains and losses from their current state, and that probabilities are subjective.

Question 28

punishment

Answer 28

The delivery of an aversive stimulus.

Question 29

rational choice model

Answer 29

A framework for explaining choice behavior that assumes that decision makers are consistent in their preferences and procedures for generating choices.

Question 30

rationality

Answer 30

Consistency in decision making that is based on a conscious evaluation of the circumstances.

Question 31

reference dependence

Answer 31

A core assumption of prospect theory, such that outcomes are evaluated in terms of their relative change (positive or negative) from the current state.

Question 32

reward prediction error (RPE)

Answer 32

A quantity given by the difference between the reward that was expected and what actually occurs; the activity of some dopaminergic neurons seems to convey this quantity.

Question 33

risk aversion

Answer 33

The tendency to prefer lower-risk options when making decisions, even in some situations when those options have reduced expected value.

Question 34

satisficing

Answer 34

An approach to decision making in which a decision maker does not seek the best possible option, but instead chooses the first option that meets some threshold for acceptability.

Question 35

secondary reinforcer

Answer 35

A stimulus that has no direct effects on homeostatic processes but is nevertheless rewarding; money is a paradigmatic example.

Question 36

temporal difference learning

Answer 36

A form of learning that modulates behavior according to the difference between an obtained reward and an estimate, compiled over the recent past, of an expected reward.

Question 37

temporal discounting

Answer 37

Also called delay discounting. The reduction in the desirability of an outcome based on the delay in time until it will be delivered.

Question 38

utility

Answer 38

The personal worth associated with a good; may deviate from the stated value of that good depending on an individual’s preferences, biases, or current state.

Question 39

ventral striatum

Answer 39

The portion of the ventral caudate and putamen that encompasses the nucleus accumbens.

Question 40

ventral tegmental area (VTA)

Answer 40

A part of the midbrain that contains many dopaminergic neurons and is important for reward and learning.