Cognitive Foundations of Decision-Making

The summer school in Cognitive Foundations of Decision-Making will take place at the Rabat Campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (Rabat, Morocco) from July 22nd to 27th. It aims to build cognitive foundations for the modelling and measurement of decision-making under risk and over time by pooling insights from neuroscience, psychology, and economics. The ultimate goal is to move toward an integrated, neuro-biologically founded understanding of decision-making.

Topics

  • Bounded rationality and strategic behaviour
  • Computational Complexity and Economic Decisions
  • Neural Coding, Cognitive Representation, and Decisions
  • Neural foundations of decision-making
  • Efficient coding and (economic) decisions
  • Bayesian Inference as a unifying theory of decision-making
  • Neural constraints, habit formation, and stochasticity
  • Information Theory as a tool for Decision-Modelling
  • An Introduction to Structural Estimations in R 

Structure and philosophy

Mornings and most early afternoons are dedicated to lectures on the topics described above. The rest of the afternoon is reserved for students to pitch research ideas/papers to other students and faculty, and to get feedback on models or experimental designs (on a voluntary basis). These feedback sessions will be organized in small, targeted groups, and may include other students, speakers, as well as other RISLab members. The idea is to create a format that allows for the informal exchange of ideas amongst students and faculty.

Target Audience

Young researchers interested in the cognitive basis of decision-making as a way of furthering our knowledge and understanding of decision-making processes. The summer school is open to PhD students, postdocs, and junior assistant professors interested in these topics and regardless of formal study background. However, a solid understanding of standard models of decision-making such as expected utility theory, discounted utility theory, and of behavioural generalizations of these models is highly desirable.

Amenities

The summer school will take place on the brand-new campus of UM6P near Rabat, Morocco. The campus is located some 20 minutes by car outside of the city center of Rabat. Accommodation for all participants will be provided on campus in individual studio-apartments. The fees listed below further include an airport shuttle from Rabat airport (shuttles from Casablanca can be organized upon request), the costs for the accommodation, coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners on campus, as well as shuttles to the city on two free afternoons.