Browse: Keyword: neuroEconomics

Behavioral Economics and Finance, Spring 2004

Abstract:: Surveys research which incorporates psychological evidence into economics. Prospect theory. Biases in probabilistic judgment. Self-control and mental accounting with implications for consumption and savings. Fairness, altruism, and public goods contributions. Financial market anomalies and theories. Impact of markets, learning, and incentives. Some evidence on memory, attention, categorization, and the thinking process.

Economics and Psychology, Spring 2004

Abstract:: Integrates psychological insights into economic models of behavior. Discusses the limitations of standard economic models and surveys the ways in which psychological experiments have been used to learn about preferences, cognition, and behavior. Topics include trust, vengence, fairness, impatience, impulsivity, bounded rationality, learning, reinforcement, classical conditioning, loss-aversion, over-confidence, self-serving biases, cognitive dissonance, altruism, subjective well-being, and hedonic adaptation. Economic concepts such as equilibrium, rational choice, utility maximization, Bayesian beliefs, game theory, and behavior under uncertainty are discussed in light of these phenomena.

Abstract:: This course explores the social relevance of neuroscience, considering how emerging areas of brain research at once reflect and reshape social attitudes and agendas. Topics include brain imaging and popular media; neuroscience of empathy, trust, and moral reasoning; new fields of neuroeconomics and neuromarketing; ethical implications of neurotechnologies such as cognitive enhancement pharmaceuticals; neuroscience in the courtroom; and neuroscientific recasting of social problems such as addiction and violence. Guest lectures by neuroscientists, class discussion, and weekly readings in neuroscience, popular media, and science studies.