Diese Dissertation untersucht Informationsverarbeitung und die Auswirkungen auf individuelles Entscheidungsverhalten. Anhand von Daten, die durch Experimente gewonnen wurden, wird untersucht wie Individuen von Anreiz- und Marktstrukturen auf Verhalten und dessen Auswirkungen schließen (Kapitel 1), wie sie die Adressaten einer Nachricht berücksichtigen, wenn sie Vorhersagen treffen und aktiv handeln (Kapitel 2) und unter welchen Umständen sie auf Informationen über das Verhalten Anderer reagieren (Kapitel 3). In den ersten beiden Kapiteln finde ich, dass Menschen fehlerhafte Erwartungen bilden, da sie (1) das Ergebnis von Marktinteraktionen falsch vorhersagen und (2) den Informationsgehalt von Informationsquellen falsch einschätzen. Das führt zu nicht-optimalen Investitionsentscheidungen und überschätzten Erwartungen. In dem dritten Kapitel finde ich, dass es sehr kontextabhängig ist, ob Menschen auf Informationen über die Ambitionen anderer Individuen reagieren. In dem quantitativen Kontext von Zielsetzungen gibt es einen starken Effekt durch die Kenntnis über Ambitionen anderer Individuen, in dem qualitativen Kontext von Entscheidungen über die Aufgabenschwierigkeit vertrauen Menschen ihrem eigenen Urteil. / This dissertation studies information processing and its impact on individual decision making. It uses data collected from experiments to examine how individuals extrapolate from incentive and market structures to behavior and outcomes (chapter 1), how they take the audience of a message into consideration when making predictions and taking actions (chapter 2) and under what circumstances they react to information about others’ behavior (chapter 3). In the first two chapters, I find that individuals form biased beliefs due to (1) mispredicting the outcome of market interactions, and (2) misevaluating the informativeness of information structures. This leads to non-optimal investment decisions and overconfident beliefs. In the third chapter, I find that it is very domain specific whether individuals react to information about their peers’ ambitions. In the quantitative domain of goal setting peer effects of ambitions are strong, in the more qualitative domain of difficulty choice individuals trust their own judgment.

This dissertation examines the emerging practice of consumer neuroscience and neuromarketing, combined called CNNM. CNNM utilizes tools and technologies to measure brain activity and human behavior coupled with scientific theories for explaining behavior and cognition. Consumer neuroscience is one of the newest areas of application of neuroscience and related techniques, and is of significant social consequence for its possible deployment in the market place to both study and shape consumer behavior. Concerns arise in terms of consumer influence and manipulation, but there are also concerns regarding the actual efficacy and utility of the technologies and the application of behavioral theories. The dissertation's three essays each examine a facet of CNNM. Using historical sources, conference participation, and ethical analyses, the dissertation forms a multi-prong effort at a better understanding of CNNM through the use of science and technology studies (STS) methods. The first essay is an historical review of the usage of technologies to measure brain activity and behavior, parallel to the development of psychological theories created to account for human decisionmaking. This essay presents a new conception of "closure" and "momentum" as envisioned by social construction of technology and technological momentum theories, arriving at a new concept for inclusion called "convergence" which offers a multi-factor explanation for the acceptance and technical implementation of unsettled science. The second essay analyzes four discourses discovered during the review of approximately seventy presentations and interviews given by experts in the field of CNNM. Using and adapting actor-network theory, the essay seeks to describe the creation of expertise and group formation in the field of CNNM researchers. The third essay draws on a variety of ethical analyses to expand understanding of the ethical concerns regarding CNNM. It raises questions that go beyond the actual efficacy of CNNM by applying some of the theories of Michel Foucault relating to the accumulation of power via expertise. This essay also points in the direction for actionable steps at ameliorating some of the ethical concerns involving CNNM. CNNM is a useful technique for understanding consumer behavior and, by extension, human behavior and neuroscience more generally. At the same time, it has been routinely misunderstood and occasionally vilified (for concerns about both efficacy and non-efficacy). This dissertation develops some of the specific historical movements that created the field, surveys and analyzes some of the foremost experts and how they maneuvered in their social network to achieve that status, and identifies novel ethical issues and some solutions to those ethical issues. / Ph. D. / Consumer neuroscience, or neuromarketing, (CNNM) is a new and emerging field which uses different devices to measure brain activity and behavior. For many years, scientists and marketers have been seeking to understand and explain decisions and, more specifically, consumer decisions. It has only been in the most recent decades that technology and scientific theories have been working in a close fashion to help understand human decision and consumer behavior. In three essays, this dissertation uses tools from science and technology studies (STS) to better understand CNNM. In Essay One, I track the parallel history of the technologies to measure brain activity and behavior with scientific theories put forward to explain them. In Essay Two, I analyze the content of presentations given by experts in the field to understand how CNNM expertise is formed. In Essay Three, I explore the ethical concerns and propose some new ways of solving some of the ethical problems (such as power, influence, and expertise.) CNNM is an important social phenomenon because of its possibilities of helping marketers, but it is also important for its part in developing areas of technology and scientific theories. The dissertation represents some new approaches at helping to understand its complexities and consequences.

People make food choices based upon the motivation to consume foods that are reinforcing compared to alternatives that may be available.1 Delay discounting (DD) is a measure used to assess impulsivity, quantifying how people make decisions based on time to receive and amount of the choice presented. The food purchase task (FPT) assesses the demand for a food and how reinforcing this item is at various prices. Using a controlled feeding study design, 10 males (n=7 sedentary, n=10 endurance trained) consumed an iso-caloric, standard diet (55% carbohydrate, 30% fat, and 15% protein) for 10 days, followed by a high-fat diet (55% fat, 30% carbohydrate, 15% protein) for 5 days. DD, FPT, and Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) were assessed at three time points: baseline, after the standard diet/before high-fat diet, and after the high-fat diet. Discounting rates were significantly different at baseline between sedentary and endurance trained males, with the sedentary males having higher discounting rates (mean difference 1.43, p=.037). Discounting rates for the whole sample significantly decreased between baseline (time 1) and post-STD diet/before HFD (time 2), between time 2 and after the HFD (time 3), and between time 1 and time 3 (all indicated by p<0.05). No group differences were noted over time for demand elasticity, intensity, or TFEQ measures (all indicated by p<0.05). Results could be used to advance the understanding of factors that influence impulsive and unhealthy eating behaviors and inform the development of interventions that use reinforcers to positively influence eating behaviors. / MS / Choice is a fundamental part of life, and people make decisions based on a variety of different factors, such as the amount of effort required, perceived benefits and risks of the choice, what other options are available, and what resources the person has available to them (e.g., time, money). Many dietary and lifestyle choices are unhealthy, such as choosing to consume fast food in excess or to not engage in exercise. About 2/3 of Americans are overweight, and 1/3 are obese, and about 1 in 5 of American adults meet the guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control of engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. Understanding the factors that influence unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity is crucial in order to develop effective programs that focus on changing these behaviors, as weight-loss or physical activity programs often require people to delay the immediate gratification of food in order to achieve optimal health outcomes. The present study investigates how a diet high in fat and exercise habits influence how people value rewards and make decisions. Delayed discounting is a tool used to determine much a person is influenced by immediate gratification of a reward versus waiting for a larger reward of greater worth that is available in the future. The food purchase task is used to quantify the reinforcing value of a food item by determining how much of a favorite snack food a person would purchase by depending on the price. Lastly, eating habits such as dietary restraint or loss of control are quantified by a questionnaire. Results could improve the understanding of factors that influence unhealthy decisions and support the creation of programs that aim to improve how people view and value future health outcomes.

We examine the antecedents of customer satisfaction in the restaurant sector, paying particular attention to perceived value and price level. Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation, we extract latent topics from the text of Yelp! reviews, then analyze the relationship between these topics and satisfaction, measured as the difference between review rating and user average review rating.

In this study I examine foul calls by NBA referees alongside the difference in aggressiveness of twelve NBA basketball teams as they compete for the Championship Title. I aim to identify referee biases that increase the likelihood of the NBA Finals ending in a later game due to league revenue incentives. My data consists of 91 individual NBA Finals games played between the 2001 and 2016 NBA Finals. After controlling for changes in play as well as the difference in aggressiveness, I find that NBA referee’s foul calls are more dependent on a call on the opposing team in situations with a larger series score spread. Additionally, I identify a consistent officiating bias towards the home team. My results imply an effort by the NBA to increase the probability of the series ending in a later game, possibly motivated by increased revenues for the league and all parties involved.

In this paper I examine the factors that affect the likelihood an individual is a registered organ donor. Unlike many studies which focus on subpopulations in specific regions, I utilize national data to get a broader assessment of individuals from around the country across a number of racial and religious classifications. Using a probit model and controlling for a variety of parameters, I find that some racial and religious variables are negatively and significantly associated with organ donor registration rates, while education and being female are positively associated with organ donor registration rates. I conclude by discussing the implications of my results and the potential for future research.

Methamphetamine is a psychomotor stimulant that produces hyperactivity and euphoria and can lead to drug-seeking and abuse. An estimate from 2005 put the cost of methamphetamine abuse to society at an estimated 23.4 billion dollars. One of methamphetamine's effects is activation of glial cells and associated neuroinflammatory activity in the periphery and CNS. Glia are responsible for maintaining calcium homeostasis, neuroplasticity, immune activity, and cell signaling. Activation of glia and neuroinflammation are becoming recognized as links in drug abuse-related behavior. The goal of the present work was to assess the ability of ibudilast, AV1013, and minocycline, three glial cell modulating compounds, to attenuate responding in rodent procedures that model different aspects of methamphetamine abuse-related behavior. First, Ibudilast (1.8, 7.5, 13 mg/kg) and AV1013 (10, 30, 56 mg/kg) were examined for their effects on methamphetamine-induced (3 mg/kg) locomotor activity and sensitization in mice, the latter thought to involve neurocircuitry common with drug relapse. Ibudilast and AV1013 dose-dependently attenuated methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity and its sensitization. Second, ibudilast (1, 7.5, 10 mg/kg), AV1013 (1, 10, 30 mg/kg), and minocycline (10, 30, 60 mg/kg) were examined for their effects on methamphetamine self-administration (0.001, 0.03, and 0.1 mg/kg/inf) in rats. All three compounds significantly reduced methamphetamine (0.03 mg/kg/inf) self-administration. Results suggested baseline self-administration rate as a possible determinant of these effects; however, follow-up tests with ibudilast while controlling for baseline response rate dismissed this possibility. Additional follow-up tests identified whether the attenuation of operant response rates was specific to methamphetamine-maintained behavior. Using a behavioral economic approach, all three test compounds were determined to also affect non-nutritive banana pellet-maintained responding when the baseline strengths maintained by methamphetamine and banana pellet delivery were matched. Finally, ibudilast was evaluated for its effects on methamphetamine discrimination in rats, a procedure thought to model clinical subjective effects. Ibudilast (1, 7.5, 10 mg/kg) did not significantly modify methamphetamine’s discriminative stimulus effects when trained at either 1 or 0.56 mg/kg. These results support the hypothesis that attenuation of glial cell activity and neuroinflammation may be linked to some abuse-related behaviors of methamphetamine, reinforcing their examination as novel targets for treating methamphetamine abuse.

Bibliographic citation Kahounová, Jana (2012). Czech Pension Reform through the Lens of Behavioral Economics. Prague, 2012. 79 p. Master Thesis (Mgr.) Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies. Master thesis supervisor PhDr. Michal Bauer, PhD. Abstract The field of behavioral economics can provide original insights into many areas of economic decision-making. In my thesis I use the point of view of behavioral economics to assess the current Czech pension reform plan. I study time discounting as the main determinant of saving behavior and deal with its relationship to the Czech pension reform architecture. The three fundamental features of the Czech pension reform plan that are examined are entry into the private funded scheme that is to be introduced by the Czech pension reform plan, the contribution rate into the private funded scheme and access to deposits in the private funded scheme. In order to obtain data for my research I conducted own survey. The results of statistical analysis confirmed the hypotheses of behavioral economics that people exhibit heterogeneous time discounting which influences their saving behavior and these characteristics can also determine their preference for the pension reform features. It implies a possibility for policy-makers to...

O objetivo desse estudo foi testar as hipóteses de simetria e assimetria entre reforçamento e punição utilizando análise oriunda da Economia Comportamental. Foram utilizados cinco ratos Sprague Dawley, treinados em uma cadeia comportamental mantida por economia de tokens, em uma caixa tendo como operanda duas rodas e uma barra: respostas de girar a roda produziam tokens (LEDs) e as de pressionar a barra trocavam os tokens por sacarose. O elo de produção de tokens consistia em um esquema concorrente, sendo um oferecendo reforçamento positivo (adição de tokens) e o outro um esquema misto de reforçamento positivo e punição negativa (adição ou remoção de tokens, respectivamente). A variável independente foi a exigência de determinado número de respostas de girar a roda para liberação de 1ml de sacarose (preço unitário), sendo a variável dependente a alocação de respostas entre os dois esquemas concorrentes. Todos os sujeitos estabeleceram distribuições estáveis de respostas (analisados como pacotes de respostas) entre os dois esquemas, os quais variaram em função do preço unitário. Os resultados confirmaram que os LEDs tiveram função de estímulo discriminativo, mas não foram claros sobre a sua função punitiva quando removidos contingente à resposta. Consequentemente, os dados obtidos não permitiram que se concluísse sobre as hipóteses testadas. Os resultados foram então analisados por três modelos explicativos do comportamento de escolha: melioração, maximização e satisficing. O modelo de satisficing foi o que produziu a melhor explicação das escolhas molares de todos os sujeitos, sob todos os preços unitários. O modelo de melioração ofereceu explicações adequadas para três sujeitos, especialmente quando o preço unitário era baixo, enquanto o de maximização foi adequado na condição de preços unitários altos, mas apenas para dois sujeitos / The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses of symmetry and asymmetry between reinforcement and punishment using an analysis that stems from behavioral economics. Five Sprague Dawley rats were used, submitted to a behavioral chain maintained by a token economy. The operant chamber had two response wheels and a lever: wheelspinning responses produced tokens (LEDs) and lever-presses exchanged tokens for sucrose. The token-production link was a concurrent condition: a positive reinforcement (token production) schedule, and a mixed schedule with a positive reinforcement and a negative punishment component (token production and removal, respectively). The independent variable was unit price, that is, the number of wheel-spins required to produce 1 cc of sucrose; the dependent variable was response allocation between the two concurrent schedules. All subjects established stable response distributions (considered as response packages) between the two schedules, which varied according to unit prices. The results confirmed that the LEDs acted as discriminative stimulus, but were not clear as to their punitive function when removed, response-contingently. Therefore, the results did not support any conclusion about the tested hypotheses. They were then analyzed based on three choice models: melioration, maximization, and satisficing. The satisficing model produced the most comprehensive explanation of molar choices among all subjects and unit prices. The melioration model produced adequate explanations for three subjects, mostly when unit prices were low, while maximization was adequate in the condition when unit prices were high, but only for two subjects

Cette thèse porte sur trois déterminants sociaux des décisions économiques : l'identité sociale, l'image sociale et les préférences sociales. Le premier chapitre rend compte d'une expérience visant à tester l'effet de la mobilité sociale ascendante sur la confiance interpersonnelle. Les individus se sont caractérisés à la fois par une identité de groupe naturelle et par un statut attribué au moyen de leur performance relative dans une tâche dans laquelle les identités naturelles prédisent fortement la performance. La mobilité ascendante se caractérise par l'accès au statut élevé des individus appartenant au groupe naturel associé à une performance attendue inférieure. Nous constatons que les personnes socialement mobiles font moins confiance que celles qui ne sont pas socialement mobiles, à la fois lorsque le l'autre individu appartient au même groupe naturel ou à un autre groupe naturel. En revanche, la mobilité ascendante n'affecte pas la fiabilité. Nous ne trouvons rien qui indique que l'interaction avec une personne mobile a une incidence sur la confiance ou la fiabilité. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous testons si les individus intériorisent les effets de leur comportement sur l'image sociale de leur groupe. Dans notre expérience, nous recrutons des paires d'amis et étudions si le nombre de fausses déclarations diminue quand cela peut avoir des retombées négatives sur l'image de l'ami. Nous constatons que les participants nuisent à l'image sociale de leurs amis en faisant de fausses déclarations : les observateurs externes mettent à jour leurs croyances et s'attendent à juste titre à ce qu'un participant dont l'ami a fait de fausses déclarations soit susceptible de faire de même. Cependant, les participants font autant de fausses déclarations quand leur comportement peut nuire à l'image de leur ami que quand il ne le peut pas, même si le fait de nuire à l'image de leurs amis réduit leurs propres gains monétaires. Notre interprétation est qu'ils sous-estiment l'impact de leur comportement sur les croyances des observateurs externes concernant leurs amis. Nos résultats montrent que, même dans notre cas où l'appartenance à un groupe est évidente, les groupes peuvent avoir de la difficulté à se bâtir une bonne image. La bonne nouvelle, c'est que les observateurs externes peuvent utiliser les retombées d'images pour mettre à jour leurs croyances et interagir plus efficacement avec les membres des groupes. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous examinons expérimentalement si la sailliance des gains contre-factuels a une incidence sur la générosité. Les participants exécutent d'abord une tâche d'effort réel pour un salaire fixe, puis jouent au jeu du dictateur. Entre les conditions, nous faisons varier le niveau et le moment de la révélation du salaire. Dans certaines conditions, les participants connaissent le salaire avant la tâche de l'effort réel et ne sont pas informés des autres niveaux potentiels. Dans d'autres conditions, ils sont informés de la répartition des salaires avant la tâche d'effort réel, mais le salaire réel n'est révélé qu'ensuite. Notre hypothèse est que les participants à ces dernières conditions évaluent leur salaire réel par rapport aux autres niveaux potentiels, ce qui, à son tour, influe sur leurs transferts dans le jeu dictateur qui suit. Les résultats corroborent cette hypothèse : les participants qui obtiennent un salaire élevé ont tendance à transférer davantage lorsqu'ils sont informés des autres niveaux potentiels que lorsqu'ils ne le sont pas. Symétriquement, les participants qui reçoivent le plus bas salaire ont tendance à transférer moins quand ils sont informés des autres niveaux potentiels que quand ils ne le sont pas. / The present dissertation studies three social determinants of economic decisions: Social Identity, Social Image, and Social preferences. The first chapter reports on an experiment testing the effect of upward social mobility on interpersonal trust. Individuals are characterized both by a natural group identity and by a status awarded by means of relative performance in a task in which natural identities strongly predict performance. Upward mobility is characterized by the access to the high status of individuals belonging to the natural group associated with a lower expected performance. We find that socially mobile individuals trust less than those who are not socially mobile, both when the trustee belongs to the same natural group or to the other natural group. In contrast, upward mobility does not affect trustworthiness. We find no evidence that interacting with an upwardly mobile individual impacts trust or trustworthiness. In the second chapter, we test whether individuals internalize the effects of their behavior on the social image of their group. In our experiment, we recruit pairs of real-life friends and study whether misreporting decreases when it may have negative spillovers on the image of the friend. We find that participants hurt their friends' social image by misreporting: external observers update their beliefs and rightfully expect that a participant whose friend misreported is likely to misreport himself. However, participants misreport as often when their behavior can hurt the friend's image as when it cannot, even though hurting their friends' image reduces their own monetary gains. Our interpretation is that they underestimate the impact of their behavior on external observers' beliefs about their friends. Our results show that, even in our case where group membership is salient, groups might have difficulties building a good image. The good news is that external observers may use image spillovers to update their beliefs and interact with members of groups more efficiently. In the third chapter, we experimentally test whether the salience of counter-factual payoffs impacts generosity. Participants first perform a real-effort task for a fixed wage, and then play a dictator game. Between conditions, we vary the level and the timing of the revelation of the wage. In some conditions, participants know the wage before the real effort task, and are not informed of the other potential levels. In some other conditions, they are informed of the distribution of the wages before the real effort task, but the actual wage is only revealed afterward. Our hypothesis is that participants in the latter conditions evaluate their actual wage relative to the other potential levels, which in turns impact their transfers in the subsequent dictator game. The results support this hypothesis: participants who get a the high wage tend to transfer more when they are informed of the other potential levels than when they are not. Symmetrically, participants who get the low wage tend to transfer less when they are informed of the other potential levels than when they are not.