So, I just wanted to let people know that today, I official have my Masters of the Arts in Psychology! I had to graduate in October because of a paperwork issue (although it would have been tough to make that May deadline, regardless). It’s done!
I did not walk, because I live over 3 hours away and it’s the busy time in my line of work.
The actually Diploma won’t show up until November, which is upsetting, but I guess the diploma isn’t as important as the degree.
Now to the next step in life…
Congrats, LW!
Huge congrats, man. My sister had the same a few years ago. What area did you end up in doing work?
My thesis was on Decision Making during uncertainty and how personality traits impact it.
Glad to be done with it.
Well done, gratz!!!
Yeah, I wouldn’t walk either. That’s quite a hike! :D
Congrats!
Hey, awesome! Any specific model used? MBTI or other?
My sis landed in public work, she’s currently counseling, specifically mental health services. She’s got two kids under age 10 so not sure she wants to battle pursuing a doctorate, if ever.
Yes, I used the Behavioral Approach System/Behavioral Inhibition System (BAS/BIS). It measures how sensitive people are rewards, novelty and Fun and how sensitive people to losses.
It was found that people sensitive to lose would be more likely to avoid situations with a high probability of a bad outcome, even if they are smaller showing that on a whole people are insensitive to scope.
Basically, people are likely to take the path of fewer but worse bad outcomes versus a greater number of badout comes, even if they are relatively small.
Way to go, LW.
Excellent!
Awesome! I did some early studies on it waaaaaay back in the day. My takeaway was it’s a fascinating field which needed a lot more study. Of course, those with the grant money were more difficult to persuade.
I wonder if Casino’s would bite at my research?
That’s actually quite possible. Decades back, a professional sports team was interested in mine.
Congrats, Master Lego Warrior!
Thank you everyone!
Yippee!!! So happy for you!
Very very, cool! Congratulations.
Love the topic, too. I would be very interested in a suggested reading list for decision making science, if you have some favourites.
I think the big three in the field are -
Robert Zajonc, you did initial work linking feelings and emotions with decision making (what is usually called Affect Heuristics, because it sounds cool).
Daniel Kahneman, who won an model peace prize in Economics
Amos Tverskey, a frequent collaborator of Kahneman and had he been alive, would have probably shared Kahneman’s peace prize.
For something more specific to the BAS/BIS theory, maybe “Personality Predicts Brain Responses to Cognitive Demands” by Kumari, Williams and Gray? It’s tough to recommend a start point when I’ve been in the middle of it for a long time.
For something a little more ‘fun’ "Damasio’s Descartes’ error and the future of human life" is what started me on my research. I read it my senior year of college and it stuck with me. The book talks about how damage to the emotion regions of the brain can cause errors in judgement, while not impacting intelligences (which suggests that emotions are necessary for decision making). Its a bit dated, so more of a fun read.
On a related note, do things like Jung’s theories on decision making not have any influence anymore or are they just proven wrong by much better theories now?
And on an unrelated note, I heard a Dr. Rob Dielenberg as a guest on a podcast recently about criminology. He wrote a book on Ted Bundy. While I’m not sure the book is something I would read, his interview was pretty fascinating. He’s a former neuroscientist, who is somewhat bridging the gap to criminal psychology and criminology. What was really insightful was his mapping of decisions and actions that Ted took to what is accepted in neuropsychology now. The age old question, was the killer broken or did the killer learn to be broken. And if he was broken, which part of the brain was it? Certainly a take on things I did not expect and to the point, Ted couldn’t control his decisions in the way a normal person should. Where you and I would perceive danger and change our decisions based on it, his theory is that Bundy’s brain could see danger, but not process it. So adding sexual fantasy and urges into a mind unable to make choices that were moral and without danger equaled … a deranged killer like no other. He pinpoints which part of the brain was most likely broken, but since Ted never had an MRI that was published, it’s mostly speculative.
Sadly, it has been too long since I studied Jung, and so I couldn’t tell. The BAS/BIS is rather more basic, just about how punishments and rewards are processed.
If you want to read about how physical damage to the brain can impact decision making and cognitive function, I would suggest Descartes’ Error. It has several chapters about case studies of people that survived brain trauma (one rather extreme), show limit cognitive decline but become unable to make decisions.