Decision Making Neuroscience

Mutual Cooperation

associated with consistent activation in brain areas that have been linked with reward processing

Areas linked with reward processing

nucleus accumbens, the caudate nucleus, ventromedial frontal/orbitofrontal cortex, and rostral anterior cingulate cortex

No evidence of prosocial behavior or cooperation

The Role of the ACC in the worker-parasite study found…

ACC

must be activated for exploitable effortful behavior

Decision making

The cognitive process of selecting a course of action among alternatives, each expected to yield different outcomes

Rational

Decisions can follow logical reasoning

Irrational

influenced by biases, emotions, or flawed logic

Explicit Assumption

Some decisions are based on clearly stated assumptions

Implicit Assumptions

decisions that rely on tacit, often unexamined beliefs

Decision making theory

A framework describing how rational individuals should make choices under conditions of risk and uncertainty

Game Theory

Mathematical model of conflict and cooperation involving multiple agents whose outcomes depend not just on their own choices, but also on the choices of others

Theory of Mind (ToM)

The ability to process the intentions and actions of others

John Maynard Smith

A British evolutionary biologist, applied game theory to the study of animal behavior

Costs and Benefits

If members of the same species compete for resources, why don’t they fight to the death?

Strategy

A pre-programmed (or hardwired) behavioral policy

Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS)

A strategy that, if adopted by most members of a population, cannot be outcompeted by any alternative strategy

Instinctive behaviors

reflect strategies that have become evolutionarily stable over time

Hawks (H)

Always fight; only retreats when seriously injured

Doves (D)

Exhibit threatening behavior; never hurting others

H vs. D

H always win because D runs away (but D does not get hurt)

H vs. H

Both go on fighting until one is seriously injured (or dead)

D vs. D

Both go on posturing at each other until one decides to quit; nobody gets hurt

Many genes in the gene pool

Individuals who score high points (high average payoff) leave…

Simulation

A stable ratio of 5D:7H

Retaliator (R)

a conditional strategist that acts like whatever it's going against so it'll act like a hawk when going against a hawk, a dove when going against a dove, and a dove when going against another retaliator

Bully (B)

Behaves like a H until somebody hits back, then promptly runs away

Prober retaliator

Basically, a retaliator but occasionally escalates confrontation

Solo effort

only one monkey had access to a pull bar and a baited cup, and the tray was counterweighted within this individual’s pulling capacity

Cooperation

both monkeys had pull bars, and the tray was counterweighted such that the strength of both was required, but only one bowl was baited