Shanghai Colloquium in Neuroeconomics: John W. Payne

Abstract:

Over the past decade my colleagues (most notably Vinod Venkatraman) and I have explored a heuristic for solving multi-outcome risky choice problems based on the idea that people often focus on a general sense of whether or not they will win (not lose) when making such decisions. To date this program of research has involved multi-methods of study including eye-tracking, brain imaging, as well as response time measurement and the analysis of choice data. The purpose of this talk will be to present a summary of that program of research. In addition to summarizing evidence that many people focus on maximizing the overall probability of winning (not losing) across multiple (three or more) outcomes in risky choice, I will also present evidence that a given decision maker, as well as different decision makers, use a variety of other simplifying decision strategies, contingent upon subtle problem variations and variations in the decision makers’ cognitive and emotional state. Consequently, I will argue that the traditional approach in decision research of assuming that people use a single compensatory decision calculus, with different parameters for different individuals, and perhaps for different situations, should be replaced with a more contingent multi-strategy perspective. I will also argue for a shift in research approach to include the use of more complex (three or more outcome) gambles, and the use of various process-tracing methods such as eye-tracking.

Biography:

John W. Payne is the Joseph J. Ruvane Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. He also has appointments as a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and as a Professor of Law at Duke University. His education includes a B.A. 1969, M.A. 1972, Ph.D. 1973 in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine. He held a position as a postdoctoral fellow in Cognitive Psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University, 1973-74.

Professor Payne’s research deals with how people make decisions, and how decision making might be improved. His particular subfield of interest is decision making under risk. He has authored or edited four books, including The Adaptive Decision Maker, and 100 additional journal articles and book chapters. 

Among his honors, Professor Payne has been elected President of the Judgment and Decision Society. He has won the Leo Melamed Prize for scholarship at the University of Chicago, for the most significant research by business school faculty. He was awarded the first JCR award for long-term contribution to consumer research He has been selected as a Fellow, American Psychological Association, 2007, and a Fellow, American Psychological Society, 1995.

About Shanghai Colloquium in Neuroeconomics

This colloquium is one of the monthly Shanghai Colloquium Series. It aims to promote interdisciplinary discussion among many scholars in Shanghai who study Decision Making. The cooperative brings together scholars from all of the Shanghai Universities and Institutes on a regular basis, and holds monthly colloquium in Neuroeconomics at NYU Shanghai's campus in Pudong. The monthly colloquium also brings internationally recognized speakers from Asia, Europe and the Americas to Shanghai. Each colloquium is followed by a Q&A session as well as an informal reception.