The Science of Decision-Making

Questions to Discuss11 questions

• How do you make decisions?
• How do you think other people make decisions?
• How do groups make decisions?
• What does economics tell us about decision-making?
• What does psychology tell us about decision-making?
• Are people’s decisions determined by biology?
• How do we define good and bad decisions?
• Why do smart people make mistakes?
• How can decisions be influenced?
• Do different groups of people (men and women, or teenagers and adults, etc.) make decisions differently?
• When should people not be held responsible for the consequences of their decisions?

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Heads or Tails: Individual Decision-Making4 questions

• Insights from Economics
• Insights from Psychology
• Insights from Neuroscience
• Responses to Risk and Ambiguity

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All Together Now: Group Decision-Making5 questions

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Collaboration
• Explaining the Tragedy of the Commons
• Majority Rules: the Promise and Peril of Democracy
• Deciding for Someone Else: Surrogate Decision-Making
• The Impact of New Technologies

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Introducing Game Theory3 questions

• Game theory versus decision theory
• The Keynesian Beauty Contest
• Understanding Nash Equilibrium

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Under the Influence: Persuasion and Decision-Making4 questions

• Persuasion by People
• Persuasion by Technology
• Structural Persuasion (see “Nudge”)
• Mass Persuasion

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Philosophical Responses to Decision-Making3 questions

• Consequentialism: Utilitarianism and the Common Good
• Deontology: the Categorical Imperative and the Difference Principle
• Virtue and fairness: Aristotle’s Golden Mean and the Golden Rule

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Additional Terms to Learn (Examples)5 questions

• Decision Trees | Utility | Knowns and Unknowns |
• Anchoring | Framing | Indifference Curve | Sunk Cost |
• Marginal Cost | Revealed Preference | Opportunity Cost |
• Risk Aversion | Ambiguity Aversion | Evolutionary Psychology
• Shirking | Groupthink | Precautionary Principle | Rationality

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Game Theory Scenarios to Explore2 questions

• The Prisoner’s Dilemma | Centipede Game | Rendezvous Problem
• Traveler’s Dilemma | Two-Thirds of a Number | Deal or No Deal?

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Current Trends in the Study of Decision-Making (Examples)1 question

• “Big Data” | “Moneyball” | “Nudge” | “Blink | “Thinking Fast and Slow”

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