SAGE Journal Articles
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Abstract
Our research shows that people can apply the cost-benefit rules of microeconomic theory to their everyday decisions. Two populations were examined: (a) people who had previously received extensive formal training in the rules and (b) naive subjects who were randomly assigned to receive brief training in the rules. Training affected reasoning and reported behavior in both populations. The results indicate that extremely general rules govern choices across a wide range of domains and that use of the cost-benefit rules can be improved through training.
Discussion questions:
- What does the author mean by “cost-benefit rules of choice?”
- What are the “sunk cost” and “opportunity cost” principles? Give examples of violations of these principles.
- Describe the design of the second experiment. What are the hypotheses being tested? What do the results of the experiment suggest about the hypotheses?
Abstract
Findings from a complex decision-making task (the Iowa gambling task) show that individuals with neuropsychological disorders are characterized by decision-making deficits that lead to maladaptive risk-taking behavior. This article describes a cognitive model that distills performance in this task into three different underlying psychological components: the relative impact of rewards and punishments on evaluations of options, the rate that the contingent payoffs are learned, and the consistency between learning and responding. Findings from 10 studies are organized by distilling the observed decision deficits into the three basic components and locating the neuropsychological disorders in this component space. The results reveal a cluster of populations characterized by making risky choices despite high attention to losses, perhaps because of difficulties in creating emotive representations. These findings demonstrate the potential contribution of cognitive models in building bridges between neuroscience and behavior.
Discussion questions:
- What is the Iowa gambling task? Describe the authors’ computerized version of the task.
- What is the expectancy-valence model? Describe the model’s three parameters.
- Generally, what do the authors conclude that the expectancy-valence model shows about decision-making deficits?
Abstract
Dual-process and dual-system theories in both cognitive and social psychology have been subjected to a number of recently published criticisms. However, they have been attacked as a category, incorrectly assuming there is a generic version that applies to all. We identify and respond to 5 main lines of argument made by such critics. We agree that some of these arguments have force against some of the theories in the literature but believe them to be overstated. We argue that the dual-processing distinction is supported by much recent evidence in cognitive science. Our preferred theoretical approach is one in which rapid autonomous processes (Type 1) are assumed to yield default responses unless intervened on by distinctive higher order reasoning processes (Type 2). What defines the difference is that Type 2 processing supports hypothetical thinking and load heavily on working memory.
Discussion questions:
- What are “dual-process” theories? What features are generally shared in these theories?
- The author claims that “not all dual-process theories are the same. Describe some of the differences between different dual-process theories.
- Briefly summarize the criticisms of dual-process theories.