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Related Concept Videos

Decision Making01:20

Decision Making

Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
Decision Making: Traditional Method01:14

Decision Making: Traditional Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the traditional method includes calculating the critical value, testing the value of the test statistic using the sample data, and interpreting these values.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
Reason and Intuition01:37

Reason and Intuition

The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the brain can only use...
Confirmation Biases01:31

Confirmation Biases

The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?
Decision Making: P-value Method01:09

Decision Making: P-value Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim  is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses:  a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
Instinctive Drift01:05

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...

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Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
07:05

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Published on: September 10, 2018

Animal decision-making and the 'Concorde fallacy'.

E Curio1

  • 1E. Curio is at Arbeitsgruppe für Verhaltensforschung, Fakultat fur Biologie, Ruhr-Universität, Postfach 10 21 48, 4630 Bochum I, FRG.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution
|January 14, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The Concorde Fallacy describes investing more in a task due to past investment, not future benefits. This behavior, seen in animals and humans, may be adaptive rather than a cognitive error.

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An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents
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The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • The Concorde Fallacy describes a bias where individuals continue investing in a failing endeavor due to prior commitment, rather than future expected outcomes.
  • Both humans and animals exhibit this behavior, which deviates from rational decision-making based on net future benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the potential adaptive explanations for the Concorde Fallacy in animal behavior.
  • To investigate whether this 'fallacious' behavior could be evolutionarily advantageous.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing studies on animal behavior and decision-making under investment constraints.
  • Analysis of theoretical frameworks for evaluating adaptive strategies in the face of sunk costs.

Main Results:

  • Evidence suggests animals may exhibit Concordian behavior by decoupling past investment from future expected benefits.
  • Alternative explanations for this behavior exist, but it is not definitively maladaptive.
  • Two potential adaptive reasons for Concordian behavior are identified: altered future reproductive prospects and information gathering for optimal decision-making.

Conclusions:

  • Concordian behavior in animals may not be a cognitive fallacy but an adaptive strategy.
  • Understanding sunk cost biases can provide insights into evolutionary decision-making processes.