Center for Behavioral Decision Research

CBDR : Seminar Series : Seminar by Joshua Weller

Risky Decision Making Across the Lifespan: Evidence from Decision Neuroscience, Developmental, and Individual Differences Approaches

	presented by Joshua Weller (Decision Research)


	Tuesday, November 3	link to paper
	12pm
	Porter Hall 223D	link to Speaker's Site

	Abstract:

	Each day we are confronted with choices which involve a degree of uncertainty. It follows that understanding how individuals deal with uncertain outcomes is a critical research goal. Broadly, my research focuses on the role that affective, experiential processes play in risky decision making. From an interdisciplinary approach, my research aims to understand (a) why individuals take unnecessary risks, (b) the underlying neural substrates of risk taking, and (c) how psychological and physiological changes across the lifespan impact our abilities to make advantageous choices. To address these questions, my colleagues and I have studied a wide breadth of populations, including children, older adults, and patients with focal brain lesions. In this talk, I will first discuss the neural correlates of risky decision making and will relate how neural development (and subsequent decline) may impact changes in risk taking and advantageous decision making across the lifespan. Second, I will discuss how individual differences in personality, particularly traits presumed to be tied to affective processing, may be associated with domain-specific risk intentions, risk perceptions, and perceived benefits of engaging in a particular activity. Finally, from an applied perspective, I will present new research suggesting that the affective ties that some individuals have to their cell phones may conspire against risk perceptions and ultimately safe driving behavior.

	Host at CMU: Fischhoff