[CTN] CTN seminar: Prof. Jan Lauwereyns, Oct 23, PAS 2464, 3:30

[Matthijs van der Meer]

Dear all,

Please join us for next Tuesday's CTN seminar (Oct 23) by Prof. Johan (Jan) Lauwereyns, from the Kyushu University, Japan. Title and abstract follow below.

Time and place are the usual, 3.30pm on Tuesday in PAS 2464.

If you would like to meet with Prof. Lauwereyns, and/or come to dinner afterwards, please let me know.

Hope to see you all there!

- Matt


Jan Lauwereyns
Kyushu University

"Neural mechanisms of bias and sensitivity in decision making"

To examine the neural underpinnings of decision-making, I propose using “bias” and
“sensitivity” as core concepts rather than the more common but noncommittal terms
“selection” and “attention.” Here, sensitivity refers to the quality of decision making as
a function of the ratio between signal and noise. In contrast, bias refers to the a priori
likelihood of making one decision rather than another, regardless of incoming
perceptual information. The concepts of bias and sensitivity are based on notions from
Bayesian probability, and have been implemented successfully in psychophysical
models such as Signal Detection Theory. These concepts can be translated into easily
recognizable neural signatures, as I will illustrate with concrete examples from the
experimental literature. This framework turns out to be a powerful tool to examine,
among other topics, positive and negative motivations for giving priority to different
sensory inputs, as well as the neural underpinnings of various forms of “familiarity
bias” in decision making, from simple perceptual tasks to complex social and moral
contexts.
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