Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Decision Making, Bias

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

  • 237 Accesses

Definition

Biases in decision making are identified as patterns of choice behavior that violate normative theory of choice allocation.

Detailed Description

According to the axioms frequently used in economic theory, a rational decision maker is an agent who makes consistent choices over time, and therefore exhibits stable preferences (Samuelson 1938; Friedman and Savage 1948, 1952). Importantly, the rationality assumption does not prescribe that the decision maker should always optimize her objective outcome, e.g., her monetary payoff, but it does prescribe that an individual should behave consistently, given the assumption of stable preferences. This rationality assumption has been applied to both human and animal behavior (Kacelnik 2006). However, both in the human and animal literature, numerous examples of violations of economic rationality, i.e., biases in decision making, can be found (Kalenscher and Van Wingerden 2011).

Present Bias and Time-Inconsistent Preferences

A ubiquitous...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ainslie G (1974) Impulse control in pigeons. J Exp Anal Behav 21:485–489

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allais M (1953) Le Comportement de l’Homme Rationnel devant le Risque: Critique des Postulats et Axiomes de l’Ecole Americaine. Econometrica 21:503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arkes HR, Ayton P (1999) The sunk cost and concorde effects: are humans less rational than lower animals? Psychol Bull 125:591–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bateson M, Kacelnik A (1996) Preferences for fixed and variable food sources: variability in amount and delay. J Exp Anal Behav 63:313–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1976) Optimal foraging: the marginal value theorem. Theor Popul Biol 9:129–136

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen MK, Lakshminarayanan V, Santos LR (2006) How basic are behavioral biases? Evidence from capuchin monkey trading behavior. J Polit Econ 114:517–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Martino B, Kumaran D, Seymour B, Dolan RJ (2006) Frames, biases, and rational decision-making in the human brain. Science 313:684–687

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Engel C (2011) Dictator games: a meta study. Exp Econ 14:583–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fehr E, Fischbacher U (2003) The nature of human altruism. Nature 425:785–791

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman M, Savage LJ (1948) The utility analysis of choices involving risk. J Polit Econ 56:279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman M, Savage LJ (1952) The expected-utility hypothesis and the measurability of utility. J Polit Econ 60:463–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green L, Fisher EB, Perlow S, Sherman L (1981) Preference reversal and self-control: choice as a function of reward amount and delay. Behav Anal Lett 1:43–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Green L, Fristoe N, Myerson J (1994) Temporal discounting and preference reversals in choice between delayed outcomes. Psychon Bull Rev 1:383–389

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hare TA, Camerer CF, Rangel A (2009) Self-control in decision-making involves modulation of the vmPFC valuation system. Science 324:646–648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hare TA, Malmaud J, Rangel A (2011) Focusing attention on the health aspects of foods changes value signals in vmPFC and improves dietary choice. J Neurosci 31:11077–11087

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hariri AR, Brown SM, Williamson DE, Flory JD, De Wit H, Manuck SB (2006) Preference for immediate over delayed rewards is associated with magnitude of ventral striatal activity. J Neurosci 26:13213–13217

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu M, Krajbich I, Zhao C, Camerer CF (2009) Neural response to reward anticipation under risk is nonlinear in probabilities. J Neurosci 29:2231–2237

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isles AR, Humby T, Wilkinson LS (2003) Measuring impulsivity in mice using a novel operant delayed reinforcement task: effects of behavioural manipulations and d-amphetamine. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 170:376–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kacelnik A (2006) Meanings of rationality. In: Nudds M, Hurley S (eds) Rational animals? Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 87–106

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman D, Tversky A (1979) Prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica 47:263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman D, Tversky A (1984) Choices, values, and frames. Am Psychol 39:341–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalenscher T, Pennartz CM (2008) Is a bird in the hand worth two in the future? The neuroeconomics of intertemporal decision-making. Prog Neurobiol 84:284–315

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalenscher T, Pennartz C (2010) Do intransitive choices reflect genuinely context-dependent preferences. In: Delgado MR, Phelps E, Robbins T (eds) Attention and performance XIII: decision making. Oxford University Press, Vermont

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalenscher T, Van Wingerden M (2011) Why we should use animals to study economic decision making – a perspective. Front Neurosci 5:82

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalenscher T, Güntürkün O, Calabrese P, Gehlen W, Kalt T, Diekamp B (2005) Neural correlates of a default response in a delayed go/no-go task. J Exp Anal Behav 84:521–535

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalenscher T, Tobler PN, Huijbers W, Daselaar SM, Pennartz CMA (2010) Neural signatures of intransitive preferences. Front Hum Neurosci 4:49. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2010.00049

    Google Scholar 

  • Kogut CA (1990) Consumer search behavior and sunk costs. J Econ Behav Organ 14:381–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louie K, Glimcher PW (2010) Separating value from choice: delay discounting activity in the lateral intraparietal area. J Neurosci 30:5498–5507

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald DNH, Kagel JH, Battalio RC (1991) Animals’ choices over uncertain outcomes, further experimental results. Econ J 101:1065–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh B, Kacelnik A (2002) Framing effects and risky decisions in starlings. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:3352–3355

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazur JE, Logue AW (1978) Choice in a “self-control” paradigm: effects of a fading procedure. J Exp Anal Behav 30:11–17

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClure SM, Laibson DI, Loewenstein G, Cohen JD (2004) Separate neural systems value immediate and delayed monetary rewards. Science 306:503–507

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClure SM, Ericson KM, Laibson DI, Loewenstein G, Cohen JD (2007) Time discounting for primary rewards. J Neurosci 27:5796–5804

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Navarro AD, Fantino E (2005) The sunk cost effect in pigeons and humans. J Exp Anal Behav 83:1–13

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pattison KF, Zentall TR, Watanabe S (2012) Sunk cost: pigeons (Columba livia), too, show bias to complete a task rather than shift to another. J Comp Psychol 126:1–9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rachlin H, Green L (1972) Commitment, choice and self control. J Exp Anal Behav 17:15–22

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson PA (1937) A note on measurement of utility. Rev Econ Stud 4:155–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson PA (1938) A note on the pure theory of consumer’s behaviour. Economica 5:61–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafir S, Reich T, Tsur E, Erev I, Lotem A (2008) Perceptual accuracy and conflicting effects of certainty on risk-taking behaviour. Nature 453:917–920

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silberberg A, Roma PG, Huntsberry ME, Warren-Boulton FR, Sakagami T, Ruggiero AM, Suomi SJ (2008) On loss aversion in capuchin monkeys. J Exp Anal Behav 89:145–155

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens DW, Krebs JR (1986) Foraging theory, Monographs in behavior and ecology. University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Talmi D, Hurlemann R, Patin A, Dolan RJ (2010) Framing effect following bilateral amygdala lesion. Neuropsychologia 48:1823–1827

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler R (1980) Toward a positive theory of consumer choice. J Econ Behav Organ 1:39–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tom SM, Fox CR, Trepel C, Poldrack RA (2007) The neural basis of loss aversion in decision-making under risk. Science 315:515–518

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tversky A (1969) Intransitivity of preferences. Psychol Rev 76:31–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tversky A, Kahneman D (1992) Advances in prospect theory: cumulative representation of uncertainty. J Risk Uncertain 5:297–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Neumann J, Morgenstern O (1944) Theory of games and economic behavior. University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Comparative Psychology, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Dr. Marijn van Wingerden & Prof. Tobias Kalenscher

Authors
  1. Dr. Marijn van Wingerden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Prof. Tobias Kalenscher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marijn van Wingerden .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

van Wingerden, M., Kalenscher, T. (2013). Decision Making, Bias. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_746-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_746-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation