Course Syllabus

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Semester & Location:

Fall 2021 - DIS Copenhagen

Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 3 credits

Major Disciplines:

Neuroscience, Psychology

Prerequisite:

One psychology course at university level.

Faculty Members:

Bethany Chamberlain, Kamilla Lange

Program Director:

Helle Rytkønen - hry@dis.dk

Program Contact:

psy.cns@dis.dk

Current Students: please contact your faculty using the canvas inbox function

Time:

Mondays and Thursdays 8.30-9.50 am

Place:

Frederiksberggade 24 (F24-402)

 


Description of Course

Humans face a multitude of decisions every single day. From the small, unnoticed choices to the life altering dilemmas, we shape our world through our decisions. But we rarely question our own decision making process. This experiential lab covers theories and phenomena that underlie human decision making and reasoning. Implications for human behavior is explored through empirical experiments on the individual and group level. Insights from cognitive science, neuroscience, and psychology are used to investigate the multifaceted ways that humans reason and decide. 


Learning Objectives

Through this course, you will be presented with a nuanced, scientific framework with which to judge the ways decisions are made and be equipped with the basic methodological insights for studying decision-making. You will also learn how create and experience variants of the experiments as you read about them.

By the end of the course, you will:

Have a nuanced view of reasoning, decision making and judgments, and the most important biases and heuristics that influence them.
Know about the impact of cognitive, affective and physical states on our decision making.
Have an overview of the most important research methodologies in the field.
Be able to create and present your own experiment on decision-making. 

Faculty

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Kamilla Lange

Msc. Psychology (2006, University of Copenhagen). BA. Psychology (2003, University of Copenhagen). Works as a clinical psychologist and mindfulness instructor. Teacher and supervisor for both psychologists, medical doctors and other professionals. Author of a book on mindfulness and body acceptance. With DIS since 2015.

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Bethany Chamberlain

M.Sc. (Research Methods in Psychology, University of Strathclyde, 2018). B.A. (Psychology, Bemidji State University, 2016). Previously a research assistant, graduate teaching assistant, and ESL teacher, among other jobs. Presently a volunteer with Foodsharing Copenhagen and book club leader at Books and Company in Hellerup. With DIS since 2021.


Readings

Book(s):

  • Select chapters in Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R Sunstein, 2021, Noise: a flaw in human judgment, Harper Collins. 

Example articles:


Field Studies

Potential visits to companies specializing in implementation of decision science.


Guest Lecturers

Sune Hannibal Holm

Date: 29 November

Topic: Decision-making via artificial intelligence. 

Sune Holm is an associate professor and has a PhD in philosophy from the University of St. Andrews (UK). Sune's research focuses on issues of ethics and artificial intelligence, the philosophy of biology and bioethics. He is a PI on a DFF2 project on the role of machine analogy in the biological sciences and an employee on the project Responsible AI, which in collaboration with the Science AI Center will uncover ethical issues in relation to the development and use of AI and Machine Learning, contribute to the development of an ethical code for the Science AI Center, as well as developing teaching in computer ethics for students at Science. 

Angela Mastropasqua

Dates: 9 September and 7 October

Topic: Research Methods/Topics

Angela Mastropasqua has a Master of Neuroscience from Turin University, Italy, and a PhD in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience from LMU in Munich, Germany. She is currently doing a postdoc at the Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR), Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Denmark.


Approach to Teaching 

The course will give an experiential tour of prominent decision-making research with a focus on re-creating and challenging it.

Class-work will consist of experiencing and/or discussing the experiments in the readings and the methodology they employed. You will be encouraged to ask questions and to discuss with your fellow students, and to try out ideas. The purpose is to train you in proper employment of the scientific method.

You will receive freedom under responsibility, meaning that you will be allowed to explore your own ideas under the expectation that you can argue for your choices when challenged.


Expectations of the Students

This is an experiential lab and as such, you can expect the course to be not just interactive, but experiential, meaning you will try first hand some of the techniques you are learning about and come up with your own experiments. Therefore, I expect you to be imaginative, reflective and collaborative. It is my responsibility to ensure your mastery of the course material on three conditions:

You will be prepared for each class and complete assignments on time
You will ask questions and actively engage in the course
You will collaborate and engage with your classmates to create a safe and open learning environment

Evaluation

Participation & Engagement:

Class participation will be the central source of engaging with the material and developing your research reports. Asking questions to clarify the material and to understand your fellow students will be key for a successful course. Therefore, examples of good class participation include (but are not limited to):

• Engaging actively in discussions and reflections in class and in groups. 
• Participating in group projects, experiments and presentations.
Contributing with own ideas and reflections regarding methodological challenges and/or future research.
Contributing to practical work involved in creating experiments.
Your participation grade will also include taking part in the DIS Showcase at the end of the semester.

Reflective paper

Due: 21 September. 

You will write a two page reflection paper on your own decision making process. You should identify and address the style of decision making, potential biases and the mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of these biases. 


Hypothetical Research Proposal Design

Through in-class group work and meetings outside of class, you will put together a hypothetical research design/proposal. With the understanding that funding and participants are not a problem, you will set out to research a topic in the decision-making field. Find more information here: Research Proposal Design Assignment


Poster Presentation

Overview: This project is your opportunity to pick an interesting topic relating to decision making, do original research, and write a research proposal. You can use this pilot proposal in the future to develop a more complete research project (e.g., as part of a senior year research project). First, pick a topic to start researching. Look through the topics we are covering this semester to get some ideas and branch out from there if you want (but you must stay within the topic of decision making). Second, start doing background research (i.e., literature review). You might want to start by looking up the papers in your required reading, plus references in those papers that seem relevant. After the literature review, you’ll develop your research question and hypotheses. Your research question should be based on your literature review. You should ask a question that isn’t completely answered by the studies that have been done before. Your hypotheses should be predictions about your research question based on what you found in your literature review. Make sure to include a null and alternative hypothesis. Finally, you’ll design your study. Make sure your research design matches your research question and hypotheses.


Final Paper

Due 15 December. 

Based on the poster presentation, you will write a 6 page paper. The paper should be a synthesis of the topic and findings from the poster presentation as well as observations, analysis and reflections regarding the process of making the poster presentation both on a personal and a group level. The paper should address the following: 

- Description of the poster presentation: Background literature, research hypothesis/ hypotheses, choice of experimental design (including rationale).

- Discussion of the results in relation to the hypothesis and relevant research.

- Identification of some central decisions for the group as well as for yourself. Analysis of decision making process regarding these. Discussion of potential biases, counterproductive dynamics as well as constructive and positive aspects of the decision making process. Reflection on own role. What have you learned about how to make choices yourself and how to participate in group decisions. 

- Suggestions for future research.

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due