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SYLLABUS
Content
Dr Petko Kusev
PhD
Kingston University London; City University London
Judgments and Decision-Making
Lectures; hours: 15; ECTS: 2

The aims of this module are to:

(i) Introduce and deepen students understanding of quantitative
theories of decision-making and cognitive psychology.
(ii) Encourage critical thinking about fundamental cognitive
processes such as memory, categorisation, judgement and
choice.
(iii) Promote awareness of the applications of cognitive
psychology research and theory to real-life settings.
This module will explore recent developments in theories of
decision-making and cognitive processes. It will critically examine
quantitative models of judgement and decision-making and of
categorization and memory. It will explore the role of memory in
categorisation and in judgement. The module will also cover
recent developments in normative and descriptive theories of
choice, as well as the impact of experience and expertise on
categorisation and choice. Finally, it will introduce students to
applications of judgement and decision making research in areas
such as politics, sports, economics and health.
Foundations; Categorisation and identification of perceptual
information; Causal reasoning; Memory and context; Normative
and descriptive theories of choice; Perception of risk;
Multiattribute decisions; Preference formation and justification in
choice; Morality and utility; Predicting the future: forecasting and
judging from experience; Economics, health, sport and political
elections.
Cognitive or experimental psychology
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
(i) Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of decision and cognitive
theories in psychology.
(ii) Identify how experience and expertise influence memory,
categorisation and choice behaviour.
(iii) Critically evaluate research in cognitive psychology.
Identify how recent developments in cognitive psychology find
applications in areas such as health, economics, and politics.
Students will read in depth about recent developments in decisionmaking/cognitive psychology to inform and motivate a 3000-word
essay which is worth 100% of the final mark. Critical thinking
skills will be assessed formatively during the lectures where
pertinent primary literature is analysed and discussed. Developing
a structured and principled critical essay plan will be assessed
formatively.
This module will encourage students to evaluate critically the
latest scientific literature on judgement and decision-making,

Bibliography****

memory, categorization. Lectures will introduce theories in key

areas of research. In every lecture, a key paper will be assigned for
a structured discussion, where students will be expected to prepare
answers to a set of questions to feed discussion with the lecturer
and other students. As the assessment is a 3000-word essay, in
class exercises will also be designed to encourage students to
produce essay plans that are peer evaluated.
Indicative (PDF papers will be distributed prior lectures):
Compulsory reading:
Braisby, N., & Gellatly, A. (2005/2012). Cognitive psychology.
Oxford University Press
Eysenck, M.W., & Keane, M.T. (2010). Cognitive psychology: A
student's handbook (6th Edition). Psychology Press.
Informative reading:
Eysenck, M. (2012). Fundamentals of cognition (2nd Edition).
Psychology Press.
Fiedler, K., & Juslin, P. (2006). Information sampling and
adaptive cognition. Cambridge University Press.
Hertwig, R., Barron, G., Weber, E. U., & Erev, I. (2004). Decisions from
experience and the effect of rare events in risky choice. Psychological
Science, 15, 534539.

Kahneman, D. (2003). A perspective on judgment and choice:

Mapping bounded rationality. American Psychologist, 58, 697
720.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An
analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47, 263291.
Kusev, P., van Schaik, P., Ayton, P., Dent, J., & Chater, N. (2009).
Exaggerated risk: Prospect theory and probability weighting in
risky choice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,
Memory, and Cognition, 35, 1487-1505.
Kusev, P., Ayton, P., van Schaik, P., Tsaneva-Atanasova, K.,
Stewart, N., & Chater, N. (2011). Judgments relative to patterns:
How temporal sequence patterns affect judgments and memory.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and
Performance, 37, 1874-1886.
Kusev, P., Tsaneva-Atanasova, K., van Schaik, P. & Chater, N.
(2012). Modelling judgement of sequentially presented categories
using weighting and sampling without replacement. Behavior
Research Methods. DOI 10.3758/s13428-012- 0218-9
Levitin, D. J. (2002). Foundations of Cognitive Psychology: Core
Readings. MIT Press.
Manktelow, K. (2012). Thinking and reasoning: An introduction
to the psychology of reason, judgment and decision making (2nd
Edition). Psychology Press.
Matlin. M. (2009). Cognitive Psychology (7th Edition;
International Student Version). Wiley.
Stewart, N., Chater, N., & Brown, G. D. A. (2006). Decision by
sampling. Cognitive Psychology, 53, 126.

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1992). Advances in prospect

theory: Cumulative representation of uncertainty. Journal of Risk
and Uncertainty, 5, 297323.
Remarks