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Neuroeconomics: A Guide to the New Science of Making Choices
As technology has opened new windows into the brain, it has clarified what happens there when people make decisions about money. This clarity has produced a new science called neuroeconomics, which addresses diverse questions, such as why people save, buy stocks, steal, and overspend. The many different methods used in neuroeconomics have, however, often yielded unclear findings about the quality of these decisions, primarily because the field has lacked both guidelines for categorizing the different aspects of quality, and guidelines for selecting methods to study these aspects.
Before this book, in which Peter Politser guides the reader through the different regions of study, there was no scientific guide for those interested in neuroeconomics. Politser shows how to evaluate specific elements of choice, such as regret, expectation, risk, ambiguity, time preference, and learning, and surveys economic and behavioral models of decision making skills. He reviews the neural correlates of decisional impairments and inconsistenciesclarifying, for example, why we do not recall what we experience, experience what we expect, or like what we want, and provides detailed tables of decision-making skills, their neural correlates, and possible impairments. Politser also considers what the field of neuroeconomics may add to future conceptions of decision making, and outlines the limitations of various studies of different capacities. He then introduces a broader field for the design and interpretation of neuroeconomic studiesa neuroepidemiology of decision making. Everyone
who wants to understand the research in neuroeconomics or use its methods should read this book. Its accessible text, along with an extensive glossary, will guide those with little economic or neuroscience background, and make the book an excellent supplement for courses on neuroscience and decision making.
Before this book, in which Peter Politser guides the reader through the different regions of study, there was no scientific guide for those interested in neuroeconomics. Politser shows how to evaluate specific elements of choice, such as regret, expectation, risk, ambiguity, time preference, and learning, and surveys economic and behavioral models of decision making skills. He reviews the neural correlates of decisional impairments and inconsistenciesclarifying, for example, why we do not recall what we experience, experience what we expect, or like what we want, and provides detailed tables of decision-making skills, their neural correlates, and possible impairments. Politser also considers what the field of neuroeconomics may add to future conceptions of decision making, and outlines the limitations of various studies of different capacities. He then introduces a broader field for the design and interpretation of neuroeconomic studiesa neuroepidemiology of decision making. Everyone
who wants to understand the research in neuroeconomics or use its methods should read this book. Its accessible text, along with an extensive glossary, will guide those with little economic or neuroscience background, and make the book an excellent supplement for courses on neuroscience and decision making.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2007
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November 2, 2023
Okay so this book is very difficult to characterise. On the one hand, it might be in the top 5 most interesting books I've ever read. It's not a new book, keep in mind, but I found myself stopping once every few sentences to make notes. It's just really fascinating and approaches decision making at the intersection of two things.
Neurobiology (what's happening in the brain)
Economic models (how we view the utility of the decisions)
Word is, neuroeconomics was overshadowed by behavioral economics and so lost a little steam, but reading about how decisions are impacted by lesions or by alcoholics, measures in game theory like scenarios is an area behavioural economics doesn't really get involved in.
I honestly don't know how to describe this book. I'm not sure if recommend people read it - it's quite difficult, buts its certainly made me want to learn more about the topic.
Neurobiology (what's happening in the brain)
Economic models (how we view the utility of the decisions)
Word is, neuroeconomics was overshadowed by behavioral economics and so lost a little steam, but reading about how decisions are impacted by lesions or by alcoholics, measures in game theory like scenarios is an area behavioural economics doesn't really get involved in.
I honestly don't know how to describe this book. I'm not sure if recommend people read it - it's quite difficult, buts its certainly made me want to learn more about the topic.
Displaying 1 of 1 review