Research Abstracts - 2007

One of the key tenets of rationality is that decisions are based solely on reason, which is independent of emotion. However, making decisions without letting our emotions get in the way may not be rational, a conclusion that even the late Herbert Simon misses by confusing emotion for irrationality. My collaborators and I aim to study the relationship of emotion in the decision-making process by recording six different types of biosignals--skin conductance/galvanic skin response (SCR/GSR), blood volume pulse (BVP), electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyogram (EMG), and temperature--of monetarily motivated professionals making high pressure decisions. From these biosignals I estimate underlying physiological features, such as heart rate, changes in body temperature, and amplitude of SCR, which are proxy for affect. Simultaneously, we record real-time information which these individuals process and which serves as the basis for their decisions, as well as recording their decisions and outcomes.

Based on this data set, I have found statistically significant differences in mean electrodermal and cardiovascular variables during various market events relative to no-event control periods. I am currently evaluating whether decisions are affected by the emotional response.

Funded by the National Library of Medicine

References:

[1] A. W. Lo and D. V. Repin. The psychophysiology of real-time financial risk processing. In Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14:323--339, 2002.

[2] A. Bechara, H. Damasio, and A. R. Damasio. Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. In Cereb Cortex, 10(3):295--307, Mar 2000.

[3] J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, and G. G. Berntson, editors. Handbook of Psychophysiology. Cambridge University Press, 2000.