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Neuroeconomics: Individual differences in behavioral decision making
S10
Abstracts / Personality and Individual Differences 60 (2014) S3–S23
Our previous research suggests that individual goal achievement self-regulation also plays a significant role in learning and achievement. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of mathematical achievement with learners’ cognitive and regulatory characteristics. We used a computerized battery of tests to measure aspects of number sense, spatial memory, processing speed, and solving mathematical problems in 200 Russian 15–16 year old students. Academic grades and final school test scores in mathematics were also collected. The Self-regulation in Learning Activity Questionnaire assessed regulatory processes, such as: goal planning, modeling of goal achievement, programming of actions, results evaluation, regulative flexibility, independence, reliability and responsibility. Both cognitive and regulatory constructs were significant independent predictors of mathematical performance. However, different aspects of cognition and self-regulation were differentially associated with aspects of mathematical performance. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.180
Neuroeconomics: Individual differences in behavioral decision making S. Markett, M. Reuter University of Bonn, Germany Neuroeconomics is a new area of research in the behavioral sciences which seeks to elucidate the biological underpinnings of economic and social decision making. One of the first major accomplishments of this highly interdisciplinary field is the reevaluation of classical theories of economic decision making by showing that the inclusion of biological and psychological variables adds much explanatory power to these models. Most recently, scholars in the field have also started to focus on individual differences and stable behavioral variability to improve these models even more. In this symposium, five papers will be presented that combine a wide range of different neuroscientific techniques (molecular genetics, structural magnetic resonance imaging and functional imaging of the behaving and resting brain) with experimental and survey-based behavioral methods to study individual differences in economic (loss aversion, risk aversion, self-control) and social decision making (altruism, pro-social behavior). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.181
Intelligence modulates neural responses to probabilistic feedback: A functional link between cognitive skills and risk attitudes D. Hawes, C. DeYoung, J. Gray, A. Rustichini University of Minnesota, USA The nature of the relationship between cognitive skills and economic preferences - in particular risk aversion and impatience – remains a key question in economics and psychology. Here we investigate the functional relationship between intelligence (IQ) and preferences for risk, by examining subject’s evaluation of probabilistic feedback during a simple economic decision task. Combining neural imaging with behavioral modeling of experience-based decision making, we identify a distinct pattern of neural and behavioral responses linking higher IQs to richer mental models of reward contingencies: Higher IQs correlate with smaller neural reinforcement learning signals after unpredictable losses, but not after unpredictable gains. Our results signify a link between intelligence and choice behavior that extends beyond the ex ante comparison of decision options to include ex post evaluation of decision outcomes. These findings sug-
gest that correlations between intelligence and preferences may be rooted in a unitary process of how decision outcomes are experienced. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.182
Individual differences in during decision making under uncertainty: Loss aversion covaries with insular grey matter volume S. Markett, G. Voigt, C. Montag, B. Weber, M. Reuter University of Bonn, Germany In decision situations that impose risk or uncertainty, individuals do not necessarily make rational, i.e. mathematically prudent, choices. For example, individuals tend to weight potential losses stronger than potential gains whilst ignoring the expected values of different options. This behavior has been labeled loss aversion (LA). First attempts to explain individual differences in LA have focussed on the responsiveness of brain regions involved in the processing of reward, punishment and risk. Here, we extend these findings by applying voxel based morphometry to structural MRI data. Before MR image acquisition, LA had been assessed by a behavioral protocol that required decisions for or against gambles in which potential gains and losses were systematically varied. We found robust negative correlations between LA and grey matter volume of the bilateral insula, a region most prominently known for its involvement in the processing of risk and behavioral salience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.183
Neural traits and individual differences in decision making D. Knoch University of Basel, Switzerland Decision making, i.e. the ability to select the most advantageous response from various behavioral choices, is one of the most important brain functions in life. Humans display sizeable inter-individual variation in their decision making behaviors, a heterogeneity significant both in personal decision making and social interaction. However, little is known about the sources of this heterogeneity. The goal of this talk is to show that measuring brain activity at rest, in other words when the brain is not involved in a task, is a very promising approach in the study of individual differences. I will focus on selfcontrol, a capacity that is essential for adaptive decision making and characterized by a large individual variability. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.184
The influence of dopaminergic gene variants on decision making in the ultimatum game M. Reuter, S. Markett, S. Penz, A. Mainzer, A. Felten, C. Montag University of Bonn, Germany A prominent paradigm to investigate pro-social-behavior in two anonymously interacting players is the Ultimatum-Game: Player-1 splits an endowment between himself and player-2. If player-2 accepts, the money is split as proposed but if he rejects both players get nothing. Twin studies prove the heritability of Ultimatum-Gamebehavior. A first candidate polymorphism, DRD4-Exon-III, has been identified. However, it only explains small proportions of phenotypic variance. Therefore, other dopaminergic candidate genes have become the focus of interest. We conducted the Ultimatum-Game in N = 130 participants who were genotyped for polymorphisms of the dopamine D2 and D4 receptor genes. A DRD2 haplotype block
Abstracts / Personality and Individual Differences 60 (2014) S3–S23
Our previous research suggests that individual goal achievement self-regulation also plays a significant role in learning and achievement. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of mathematical achievement with learners’ cognitive and regulatory characteristics. We used a computerized battery of tests to measure aspects of number sense, spatial memory, processing speed, and solving mathematical problems in 200 Russian 15–16 year old students. Academic grades and final school test scores in mathematics were also collected. The Self-regulation in Learning Activity Questionnaire assessed regulatory processes, such as: goal planning, modeling of goal achievement, programming of actions, results evaluation, regulative flexibility, independence, reliability and responsibility. Both cognitive and regulatory constructs were significant independent predictors of mathematical performance. However, different aspects of cognition and self-regulation were differentially associated with aspects of mathematical performance. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.180
Neuroeconomics: Individual differences in behavioral decision making S. Markett, M. Reuter University of Bonn, Germany Neuroeconomics is a new area of research in the behavioral sciences which seeks to elucidate the biological underpinnings of economic and social decision making. One of the first major accomplishments of this highly interdisciplinary field is the reevaluation of classical theories of economic decision making by showing that the inclusion of biological and psychological variables adds much explanatory power to these models. Most recently, scholars in the field have also started to focus on individual differences and stable behavioral variability to improve these models even more. In this symposium, five papers will be presented that combine a wide range of different neuroscientific techniques (molecular genetics, structural magnetic resonance imaging and functional imaging of the behaving and resting brain) with experimental and survey-based behavioral methods to study individual differences in economic (loss aversion, risk aversion, self-control) and social decision making (altruism, pro-social behavior). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.181
Intelligence modulates neural responses to probabilistic feedback: A functional link between cognitive skills and risk attitudes D. Hawes, C. DeYoung, J. Gray, A. Rustichini University of Minnesota, USA The nature of the relationship between cognitive skills and economic preferences - in particular risk aversion and impatience – remains a key question in economics and psychology. Here we investigate the functional relationship between intelligence (IQ) and preferences for risk, by examining subject’s evaluation of probabilistic feedback during a simple economic decision task. Combining neural imaging with behavioral modeling of experience-based decision making, we identify a distinct pattern of neural and behavioral responses linking higher IQs to richer mental models of reward contingencies: Higher IQs correlate with smaller neural reinforcement learning signals after unpredictable losses, but not after unpredictable gains. Our results signify a link between intelligence and choice behavior that extends beyond the ex ante comparison of decision options to include ex post evaluation of decision outcomes. These findings sug-
gest that correlations between intelligence and preferences may be rooted in a unitary process of how decision outcomes are experienced. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.182
Individual differences in during decision making under uncertainty: Loss aversion covaries with insular grey matter volume S. Markett, G. Voigt, C. Montag, B. Weber, M. Reuter University of Bonn, Germany In decision situations that impose risk or uncertainty, individuals do not necessarily make rational, i.e. mathematically prudent, choices. For example, individuals tend to weight potential losses stronger than potential gains whilst ignoring the expected values of different options. This behavior has been labeled loss aversion (LA). First attempts to explain individual differences in LA have focussed on the responsiveness of brain regions involved in the processing of reward, punishment and risk. Here, we extend these findings by applying voxel based morphometry to structural MRI data. Before MR image acquisition, LA had been assessed by a behavioral protocol that required decisions for or against gambles in which potential gains and losses were systematically varied. We found robust negative correlations between LA and grey matter volume of the bilateral insula, a region most prominently known for its involvement in the processing of risk and behavioral salience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.183
Neural traits and individual differences in decision making D. Knoch University of Basel, Switzerland Decision making, i.e. the ability to select the most advantageous response from various behavioral choices, is one of the most important brain functions in life. Humans display sizeable inter-individual variation in their decision making behaviors, a heterogeneity significant both in personal decision making and social interaction. However, little is known about the sources of this heterogeneity. The goal of this talk is to show that measuring brain activity at rest, in other words when the brain is not involved in a task, is a very promising approach in the study of individual differences. I will focus on selfcontrol, a capacity that is essential for adaptive decision making and characterized by a large individual variability. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.184
The influence of dopaminergic gene variants on decision making in the ultimatum game M. Reuter, S. Markett, S. Penz, A. Mainzer, A. Felten, C. Montag University of Bonn, Germany A prominent paradigm to investigate pro-social-behavior in two anonymously interacting players is the Ultimatum-Game: Player-1 splits an endowment between himself and player-2. If player-2 accepts, the money is split as proposed but if he rejects both players get nothing. Twin studies prove the heritability of Ultimatum-Gamebehavior. A first candidate polymorphism, DRD4-Exon-III, has been identified. However, it only explains small proportions of phenotypic variance. Therefore, other dopaminergic candidate genes have become the focus of interest. We conducted the Ultimatum-Game in N = 130 participants who were genotyped for polymorphisms of the dopamine D2 and D4 receptor genes. A DRD2 haplotype block