Decision Making

Question 1

What happens to satisfaction when there are more choices?

Answer 1

MORE choices leads to LESS satisfaction. 6 choices led to more purchases(less % interested) versus 24 choices (more % interested, less purchases).

Question 2

What is decision making?

Answer 2

How do the many factors of our lives affect the decisions we make? EG. Environment, Finance, Psychology, etc.

Question 3

What is involved in decision making?

Answer 3

Between two choices/options there is the external (quantity, commodity, delay, risk, ambiguity, cost), and the internal (motivation, patience/interest, risk attitude, ambiguity attitude) which leads to the integration and comparison of the options and ultimately the choice.

Question 4

What is homo economicus?

Answer 4

Economic human: rational and follows Utility Function.

Question 5

What is homo sapiens?

Answer 5

Irrational and does not follow utility function.

Question 6

What is utility maximization?

Answer 6

Choose option with greatest expected value. How the question is framed can affect decision making.

Question 7

What is the expected value formula?

Answer 7

Expected value = (probability of a particular outcome) x (utility of the outcome)

Question 8

What are some clinical applications of decision making?

Answer 8

Adolescence, Schizophrenia, Addiction, Dementia, Psychopathology

Question 9

What are the brain structures involved in Decision making?

Answer 9

Prefrontal Cortex, Orbitofrontal Prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, ventral medial cortex, DA reward system, nulceus accumbens, Substantia Nigra, Amygdala, Limbic System, Striatum

Question 10

What makes us different?

Answer 10

Prefrontal cortex connects to almost all cortical and subcortical areas.

• Humans have increased white matter.
• Cognitive abilities due to brain connections.

Question 11

What does the prefrontal cortex do?

Answer 11

Responsible for the executive functions of the brain. EG. Focus attention, planning, weighing consequences.

Question 12

Describe the anatomy of the Orbitofrontal cortex.

Answer 12

Ventral region of frontal lobe. Susceptible to brain damage. Connects to nucleus accumbens, limbic system, and ans.

Question 13

What are the functions of the OFC?

Answer 13

Sensory integration, expectations, decision making, and adaptive learning.

Question 14

What happens when the OFC is damaged?

Answer 14

Cognitive abilities still intact(memory, reading/writing), but other drastic life changes take place.

Question 15

What is stimulus reward learning?

Answer 15

Unique to OFC, looks at ability to swtich stimulus-reward associations.

Question 16

What is the somatic marker hypothesis?

Answer 16

The somatic marker is the change in body’s state in response to an action. Iowa Gambling Task.

Question 17

Where’s the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?

Answer 17

Superior, lateral region of the frontal cortex. Last area of the brain to undergo myelination. Connects to the cortico-cortical connections and limbic. The SPOCK gene. Responsible for logic

Question 18

What does the DLPFC do?

Answer 18

Working memory (encoding and retrieving info)

• matching an appropriate response to an input
• problem solving
• analysis of costs and benefits
• planning
• decisions (risky/impersonal)

Question 19

What happens when the DLPFC dysfunctions?

Answer 19

Caused by neurodegenerative diseases or trauma. Impairments in strategy development, inhibition, adapting to new problem solving situations, and working memory.

Question 20

What is the stroop test?

Answer 20

Tests for delayed reaction and decrease of correct responses.

Question 21

What is the Ultimatum game?

Answer 21

Cost/benefit analysis. Fairly consistent activity between when offer is fair or not. Maintenance of cognitive goals.

Question 22

Describe the anatomy of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)

Answer 22

Frontal part of the cingulate cortex; medial portion of PFC. Subdivided by function (rostral-ventral and caudal-dorsal), plus the limbic system.

Question 23

In the ACC, what does the rostral-ventral do?

Answer 23

Affective region: error detection, determines values, motor control

Question 24

In the ACC, what does the caudal-dorsal do?

Answer 24

Cognitive region: emotional response, conflict monitor, behavior

Question 25

What is the function of the ACC?

Answer 25

Important for sorting among conflicting options and outcome processing.

Question 26

The Error Detection Hypothesis

Answer 26

Tests for speed and uses distractors for test.

Question 27

Describe the anatomy of the Ventral Medial Cortex VMPFC.

Answer 27

Ventral area of frontal lobe. Dense connections to limbic system, Amygdala, and ANS. Neural networks rapidly developing during adolescence.

Question 28

What are the functions of the VMPFC?

Answer 28

Combines reward based learning and social learning to make a decision. Regulates emotions.

Question 29

What does damage to the VMPFC do?

Answer 29

Poor judgement, socially inappropriate behavior, impulsive, no care for long term consequences, can study VMPFC with fMRI, Iowa Gambling Test, Cambridge Gambling Task.

Question 30

What is Frontotemporal Dementia?

Answer 30

Second most common form of dementia, onset around 45-65. Frontal and anterior temporal lobe atrophy.

Question 31

What does FTD cause?

Answer 31

Change in personality, socially inappropriate, impulsive, emotionally indifferent, compulsive, speech difficulty.

Question 32

Why do Adolescence make bad decisions?

Answer 32

Brain is not fully developed. Surge in neuronal growth in preadolescence rewiring occurs by dendritic pruning and myelination.

Question 33

What initiates brain development in Adolescence?

Answer 33

Sex hormones. Neurotransmitters such as DA, serotonin, GABA (under developed in adolescence).