Decision Making Flashcards
What is one of the most interesting things about how we make decisions?
-how we compare things that dont have a quantifiable value
What is most cognitive neuroscience research about decision making based on?
behavioral economics and animal models from behaviorism where the value or likelihood of reward can be quantified
In an decision what do we have to represent in order to come up with a set of feasible actions?
represent our environment (external states) and our own states (internal states)
How do we make decisions in three broad phrases?
we evaluate potential actions
select an action
and evaluate the outcome of the action
What do we get the chance to do with the outcome of a decision?
we have a chance to learn something from the outcome
In the weather prediction task what could learning potentially influence?
presentation of cards in the deck
predicted reward contingencies for the cards
selection of rain or shine based on those contingencies
Why is it harder to study decision making in real life?
do not get to see the direct outcome of a decision immediately
What does valuation overlap with in the brain?
areas involved in habit learning and some of the same reward circuitry is active
What was seen and done in the study in which Roitman and Shalden trained monkeys on coherent dot motion display?
-told the monkeys to make a saccade to the target when you have decided what direction the dots are moving in
-single unit activity was measured in the LIP
-actviity ramps up over time
What does the LIP represent in the context of the dorsal attentional system?
-represents both the location of the stimulus you are monitoring for and the target location of eye movement
How come in the Roitman and Shalden study even if there was 0% coherence for the motion of the dots the monkey still made a saccade in a certain direction?
the monkey might be gathering evidence in a way that favors one side
LIP neurons show sustained activity associated with what?
associated with endogenous attention to specific retinotopic locations
-LIP is representing the motor target of eye movement and location in space where the stimulus occurs
How do attention related regions represent in the context of decision making?
represent both actions and internal and external states relevant to deciding among actions
Where in the brain does activity correspond to accumulating evidence for a perceptual decision?
dorsal attentional stream
What is valuation?
what is the value of each action given internal and external states
What are the three different valuation systems?
-pavlovian
-habitual
-goal directed
What is an appetitive and avoidant example of pavlovian valuation system?
appetitive - eat all food on the plate - reward obtained food
avoidant - cross street upon seeing dangerous person punishment avoided - potential harm
What is an appetitive and avoidant example of habitual valuation system?
appetitive - morning cup of coffee; reward - stimulant
avoidant - drive usual route to work; punishment avoided - traffic
What is an appetitive and avoidant example of goal directed valuation system?
appetitive - movie selection reward - entertainment
avoidant - go for a run - punishment avoided - obesity
Wha kind of conditioning is habit learning?
operant conditioning - associating behavior with reward not stimulus with reward - is a form of nondeclarative learning
What kind of conditioning is pavlovian learning?
classical conditioning where you associate a reward with a stimulus
How is goal directed learning?
it is longer term and more abstract and conlifct in goal directed evaluation system and more simple brain evaluation system
In pavlovian learning what is the value assigned based on?
an evolutionarily appropriate response
The habit learning system is highly conserved evolutionarily what regions of the brain is based on?
basal ganglia or striatum
midbrain dopaminergic nuclei vta or SNc
medial prefrontal cortex
What is the value assigned based on in goal directed learning?
computes new values based on the evaluation of new rewards - a more dynamic system in response to new information
What region of the brain is associated with goal directed system?
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
What are the valuation systems and the limits of rational economic models?
risk and uncertainty - expected value vs unexpected utility and prospect theory
time - immediate rewards and rewards offered at a delay are evaluated differently
What are some of the assumptions we make in regards to how people make rational decisions about buying and selling?
-they represent value accurately
-they have accurate information
-they make decisions that optimize value
-there are issues thought with assuming humans are rational though
What is the st petersburg paradox?
-bernoulli was interested in gambling game involving coin flipping
-you pay a fixed amount to play the game
-heads you win
-the prize on each flip is proportional to the likelihood of winning n times
-keep flipping until it comes up tails
-how much would you pay to play
-the paradox is that the expected value is essentially infinite
s-o people should be willing to pay huge sums to play but are not
-the expected value - sum the product of the probability of reward and likelihood of reward for all possible outcomes
What relationship must we assume between value and utility to get more reasonable results?
a logarithmic relationship between value and utility
-have a logarithmic terms for potential gain and loss
-cost to play
and current wealth where people with more money feel the cost les for a game like this