Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 26 October 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5850, pp. 598 - 602
DOI: 10.1126/science.1142996
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Social Decision-Making: Insights from Game Theory and Neuroscience

Alan G. Sanfey

By combining the models and tasks of Game Theory with modern psychological and neuroscientific methods, the neuroeconomic approach to the study of social decision-making has the potential to extend our knowledge of brain mechanisms involved in social decisions and to advance theoretical models of how we make decisions in a rich, interactive environment. Research has already begun to illustrate how social exchange can act directly on the brain's reward system, how affective factors play an important role in bargaining and competitive games, and how the ability to assess another's intentions is related to strategic play. These findings provide a fruitful starting point for improved models of social decision-making, informed by the formal mathematical approach of economics and constrained by known neural mechanisms.

Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. E-mail: asanfey{at}u.arizona.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Aging and the neuroeconomics of decision making: A review.
S. B. R. E. Brown and K. R. Ridderinkhof (2009)
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 9, 365-379
   Abstract »    PDF »
Cortical mechanisms for reinforcement learning in competitive games.
H. Seo and D. Lee (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 3845-3857
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neural correlates of economic game playing.
F. Krueger, J. Grafman, and K. McCabe (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 3859-3874
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Decision ecology: Foraging and the ecology of animal decision making.
D. W. Stephens (2008)
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 8, 475-484
   Abstract »    PDF »
Cells, circuits, and choices: Social influences on perceptual decision making.
A. Mojzisch and K. Krug (2008)
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 8, 498-508
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)