AUPSY 263 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Orbitofrontal Cortex, Affective Forecasting, Problem Solving

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Augustana Faculty - Psychology
• Course: AUPSY 263
• Professor: Kathie Bailey

Document Summary

Many of our decisions try to maximize the greatest expected value. Not all decisions are made to reflect that. You have a chance to win versus you have a 50% chance to lose nothing or a 50% chance to win . People make choices when (and only when) they detect what they believe to be a persuasive reason for making that choice. Increasing the number of choices increases the sure choice. Doctors told they needed to make decision between surgery or one option medication 53% choose surgery. Other group told they had the choice between surgery or two different options for medication 72% choose surgery. When there are 3 options and 2 of them are medication, it makes more sense to choose surgery because it is difficult to justify one drug over the other. Orbitofrontal cortex is associated with the emotional components of decision making. People with damage to this area show riskier behaviour in decision making.