Judgement & Decision Making Flashcards
conjunction fallacy
assuming specific conditions are more probably
than general ones
ex: Janet is 40 years old, single, and very bright. She spent her college years reading philosophy and majored in English. She was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice. Janet does not wear makeup or heels to work.
—> Janet is an investment banker
—> Janet is an investment banker active in the feminist movement
availability bias
overestimate the likelihood of events that are
more “available”
ex: where we donate vs. things that kill us, assuming a company is the largest because we’ve heard of it
sunken cost fallacy
investing more in a cost that has already been
spent and can’t be recovered
ex: $500 Hamilton tickets — cost is already $500, if you know you’re going to have a bad time it’s not worth it
framing effect
WHAT IT IS
EX
NEURAL BASIS
People can be manipulated into picking a particular option depending on how the question is framed, e.g. as a loss or as a gain
People tend to avoid risk when a positive frame is presented but seek risks when a negative frame is presented
ex: you could get cancer if you forgo sunscreen vs. you will have good skin if you put sunscreen on (latter = more effective)
—
endowment effect
people ascribe more value to things merely because they own them
people demand a higher price to sell an object that they would pay for it
ex: one-month trials, coffee mug (actual price: $4, buyers: $3, seller: $5)
utility curve described by prospect theory
Explain why the graph of prospect theory is not symmetrical
prospect theory: the way people choose between alternatives that involve risk
steeper for losses than gains indicating that losses outweigh gains
Describe why humans might be called irrational
conjunction fallacy, sunken cost fallacy, endowment effect
Explain the process of how the brain integrates information across sensory modalities to
make decisions
the orbitofrontal cortex receives input from external senses as well as the internal state, via the insula
receives input from sensory modalities, compares to current state, determines value of stimuli to make decisions
Describe the two systems used for decision making and compare/contrast them
irrational decisions arise because we have inherited an ancient, intuitive brain model suited for survival and a more recently evolved, rational conscious decision-making one
tug of war — “obsolete brain” hypotheses
System 1 (intuitive)
– non-conscious, intuitive
– uses parallel processing (simultaneous)
– independent of intelligence and attention
– focused on immediate rewards
System 2 (rational)
—conscious, explicit level
– uses sequential processing (steps)
– dependent on intelligence and attention
– focused on future rewards
Discuss the neural mechanisms of the two systems for judgment and decision making
the dual-systems model suggests that evolutionarily recent brain structures should be active for decisions on future rewards, but more ancient brain structures should be active on present or near-future rewards
neuroimaging showed that there were indeed separate systems active during delayed versus immediate monetary rewards
offered $20 in 2 weeks, or $40 in 4 weeks
lateral (rational) present in both
medial (irrational) and limbic (ancient) present in immediate
—-
lateral cortical areas (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal cortex) — previously linked to “rational” functions like cognition and problem solving…basically rational decision areas present in both immediate and late time points
medial cortical areas (medial orbitofrontal cortex) and hippocampus (limbic system areas) present only in immediate choices — limbic system considered more ancient
Describe the Coke vs. Pepsi study and what that revealed about expectation and decision making and describe the neural correlates
most preferred coke to pepsi
half subjects preferred pepsi when brand was absent
blind test —> ventromedial (emotion, sensory inputs, limbic system)
labeled brand—> dorsolateral (lack sensory input, rational, long-term goals)
Describe the intertemporal choice paradigm
Name the brain areas involved in the intertemporal choice paradigm
Name the brain areas involved in small vs. large rewards, and how they are
similar or different from the brain areas involved in recent vs. late rewards
In the intertemporal choice paradigm, subjects
assign values to rewards that occur at different times
Medial areas are more acLve when choosing
rewards that are smaller and occur sooner
Lateral areas are more involved in when choosing
rewards that are larger and later
Describe the results of follow-up studies on the delayed gratification (“marshmallow”) experiments. In particular, what was found in people who showed high delay of gratification and people who showed low delay of gratification when they did a go-no go
task in 2011
More academically competent than peers
More socially competent than peers
More able than peers to resist temptation
More able than peers to cope with frustration
higher SAT Scores
2011 study — higher levels of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex among those participants who delayed immediate gratification in favor of a greater reward later on
Describe the IAT.
Discuss what it is measuring.
Discuss what it is claiming to measure.
Discuss how it works.
what brain areas are active during the IAT under different conditions: what does this imply?
Higher activation in amygdala and insula associated with higher IAT difference score
famous black and white faces —> lower IAT score
