Psychology of Learning

Module 10: Decision-Making 2

Key Terms

Algorithm: A methodical rule that guarantees that a problem will be solved; provides systematic procedures that, if followed correctly, always produce correct solutions.

Anchoring: A bias in decision-making whereby our judgments are influenced by a reference point which is given, even when that reference point is arbitrary & irrelevant; initial numbers “anchor” subsequent estimates.

Area Under the Curve (AUC): An empirical measure of discounting that plots subjective value against delay; larger AUC indicates less steep discounting (more self-control), smaller AUC indicates steeper discounting (less self-control).

Availability Heuristic: A mental shortcut which makes us believe that things that come easily to mind occur more often than things that do not come easily to mind; we judge frequency or probability based on how readily examples come to mind.

Choice Architecture: The design of environments & contexts in which people make decisions; modifying choice architecture (removing temptations, creating friction, establishing precommitment) is more effective than relying on willpower.

Delay Discounting: The decrease in the subjective value of a reward as the delay to receiving that reward increases; also called temporal discounting. Future rewards are worth less to us psychologically than immediate rewards.

Ego Depletion: The state in which willpower has been temporarily depleted through prior self-control efforts, making subsequent self-control attempts more likely to fail.

Fast Strategy: A life history strategy adaptive in high mortality, unstable environments characterized by early reproduction, many offspring with minimal investment, steep delay discounting (impulsive), & high risk-taking.

Fast-and-Frugal Trees: Shortcuts for decision-making involving a series of yes/no questions to come to a decision very quickly; use minimal information, making sequential binary decisions until reaching a conclusion.

Framing: A bias in decision-making whereby our decisions are influenced by the way a question is asked or a choice is presented; logically equivalent options produce different choices depending on how they’re framed.

Future-Uncertainty: Uncertainty about the long-term consequences of behavior; one of two types of uncertainty (along with present-uncertainty) that reduce prudent decision-making.

Gambler’s Fallacy: A bias in judgment & decision-making whereby our estimations of probability are heavily influenced by the most recent outcomes, leading us to believe that past outcomes affect future independent events.

Heuristic: A mental shortcut that helps decision-makers make judgments & choices quickly in the face of uncertainty; works from partial information & provides approximate solutions rather than guaranteed correct answers.

Hyperbolic Equation: The mathematical function V = A / (1 + kD) that best describes delay discounting across species & reward types, where V = discounted value, A = actual value, k = discount rate, & D = delay.

Intuition: A type of thinking that involves understanding that is quick & effortless & often involves insight; generally, people cannot verbalize the thought processes leading to intuitive judgments.

Life History Theory (LHT): An analytical framework designed to study the diversity of life history strategies used by different organisms; predicts how organisms should allocate limited resources among competing demands given environmental conditions.

Overconfidence: A bias in decision-making whereby we are more confident than correct; an overestimation of the accuracy of one’s beliefs & judgments.

Precommitment: A situation where the individual makes a decision well before the actual time where consequences would be given & removes the ability to change that decision later; helps overcome predictable preference reversals.

Preference Reversals: Changes in what a person prefers as time passes, even though objective consequences remain constant; explains why people make excellent long-term plans but fail to execute them.

Present-Uncertainty: Uncertainty about the immediate consequences of behavior; one of two types of uncertainty (along with future-uncertainty) that reduce prudent decision-making.

Probability Discounting: The loss of value (utility) of a reinforcer that is to be received only probabilistically; a certain reward is worth more than an uncertain reward of equal objective value. Follows the same hyperbolic form as delay discounting.

Probability of Reciprocation: The subjective likelihood that one’s cooperative behavior will be matched by another (in social cooperation) or that present sacrifice will yield future benefit (in self-control); the crucial variable distinguishing self-control from social cooperation dilemmas.

Prudent Decision-Making: Decision-making driven by long-term consequences rather than immediate outcomes; essentially synonymous with self-control in the context of repeated choices.

Recognition Heuristic: A mental shortcut that biases us towards choosing those things that are familiar to us; when choosing between options, we often prefer recognized options over unrecognized options, assuming familiarity indicates quality or importance.

Representativeness Heuristic: A mental shortcut used to assess probability whereby the more an object appears to represent a class of objects, the more likely we judge it to belong to that class; we judge probability based on similarity to stereotypes rather than actual statistical likelihood.

Self-Control: Control of behavior using internal controls (such as diligence or morality) rather than external controls; involves choosing larger-later rewards over smaller-sooner rewards.

Slow Strategy: A life history strategy adaptive in low mortality, stable environments characterized by delayed reproduction, few offspring with extensive investment, shallow delay discounting (patient), & risk aversion.

Social Cooperation Problems: Decision situations where one choice is easy (often selfish) & another is harder but offers superior long-term consequences for the community; requires restraining selfish impulses for collective benefit.

Social Discounting: The phenomenon where people care less about socially distant others than about themselves & close others; correlated with temporal discounting.

Take-the-Best Heuristic: A mental shortcut that is based on a single “good” reason, ignoring all other information; you identify the most important cue, make your decision based on that cue alone, & ignore everything else.

Time Horizons: Points in time in the future beyond which we do not understand or plan; the ultimate form of delay discounting where consequences are not just discounted but completely fail to be represented.

Tragedy of the Commons: A conflict where each individual, seeking their own selfish best interest, utilizes common resources in a way that is ultimately destructive to the community as a whole.

Universal Human Morality: A human condition described by C.S. Lewis shared by all individuals; an internal control which helps keep selfish behavior in check through recognition of basic moral principles.

Willpower: The cognitive resource required for self-regulation; like a muscle that gets fatigued with use but can be strengthened through regular exercise.