SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS 170/270:
Decision Behavior: Theory and Evidence (3-4 units)
Spring Quarter 2009-2010, Stanford University
Instructor:  Todd Davies
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:15-5:30 pm
Location:  460-334 (Margaret Jacks Hall, 3rd Floor)
Instructor's Office: 460-040C (Margaret Jacks Hall, lower level)
Phone: x3-4091; Fax: x3-5666
Email: davies at stanford.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 10:30- 11:55 AM
Course website: http://www.stanford.edu/class/symbsys170 (homepage is this syllabus)
Course description:

Updated May 26, 2010, 6 pm

Course Description:

This course will provide an introduction to the theoretical and experimental study of judgment and decision making, relating theory and evidence from disciplines such as psychology, economics, statistics, neuroscience, and philosophy.  We will trace the development and critique of "homo economicus" as a model of human behavior, and more recent theories based on empirical findings.  Students should be comfortable with formal reasoning.  On the theory side, some background in probability, logic, set theory, and/or game theory would be helpful, but each topic will be developed as much as possible from first principles.  On the empirical side, a previous course in psychology such as Psychology 55 (Introduction to Cognition and the Brain)  or Psych 70 (Introduction to Social Psychology) would be helpful for thinking about experimental tests of hypotheses about human decision making.

Format and Requirements:

The course will consist of interactive lectures, based on notes that will be handed out and posted on this page for each class session. 

Students will be required to complete 4 problem sets (handed out one week in advance of their due dates) and a project, which will be presented in preliminary form in the last class session (for all students) and then (for those taking the 4-unit option) turned in as a final paper, due at the end of the scheduled final exam time for the course.  More information about the project will be handed out on April 5.

The course may be taken for either 3 or 4 units. A final paper version of the project is required only for those taking the course for 4 units.

Comparison With Related Courses Taught at Stanford:

Other courses taught at Stanford that are related to Symsys 170/270 include the folowing:

• Psych 154 (Judgment and Decision Making, Sam McClure, Winter 2010), 
• Law 333/PubPol 305A/IPS 207A (Judgment and Decision Making, Paul Brest, Winter 2010), 
• GSBGen 646 (Behavioral Decision Making, Itamar Simonson, Autumn 2009), and 
• Psych 232 (Brain and Decision Making, Brian Knutson, Spring 2010). 

Symsys 170/270 is designed to complement the material offered in the courses above by focusing on developing students' skills in two areas: (a) deriving results in both normative and descriptive axiomatic theories of decision making, and (b) designing behavioral experiments to test and refine these axiomatic theories. As such, it is particularly focused on how judgment and decision making can be studied, in addition to providing a general overview (or review) of theoretical and empirical findings from the academic literature on judgment and decision making. The course should improve a student's general ability to reason formally and to think experimentally, as well as his/her understanding of how decisions should be made (the normative stance) and of how decisions are made (the descriptive stance).

Supplementary Readings:

There is no textbook for the course, other than the notes that will be handed out before each lecture.  Each lecture's notes will provide a list of references specific to that topic.  The texts below may be useful supplements to the course in general, although they are not required:

• Jonathan Baron (2008). Thinking and Deciding. Fourth Edition. Cambridge University Press.
• Reid Hastie and Robin Dawes (2010). Rational Choice In an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making. Second Edition. Sage Publications.

Grading Basis:

1. Four problem sets (60%)
2. Project presentation (15%)
3. Project paper (25%)

Schedule (subject to change):