Research Group Projects and Descriptions

In the eRationality group we study how people behave and make day-to-day decisions, particularly in electronic environments. We investigate rationality, semi rationality, bounded rationality, and just plain irrationality. We wish to build tools that reformulate the options available to people so that they can maximize their own happiness.

We are studying how social accountability information about companies affects consumer behavior. We are also developing Web-based tools to help consumers learn about and act on such information.

How can we help people think concretely about present and future savings? We are developing a Web-based tool to help individuals make complex inter-temporal decisions about savings and consumption, and to better plan for retirement.

What is the role of herding and reciprocity in peer-to-peer economic networks? We are using an agent-based simulation to model risk-taking and herding behavior.

How do high-level cognitive functions emerge from primitive neural computations, to mediate complex human behavior? We are developing precise, focal ways of investigating phenomena such as trust and risk-taking, in order to understand how they play roles in purchasing, decision-making, social interaction, and other real-world scenarios.

Alumni Contributor(s): Barbara Barry, Jessica Schirmer and Rebecca L. Waber

With the Marketing and the Placebo Effect project, we are investigating how various economic, cultural, and social factors such as pricing, branding, or stigma could affect how people will experience their medications.

How does agency affect decision-making, spending, and risk-taking? Do agents behave differently when acting on behalf of others?