Decision Making 🤔| Winter 2026

How do we make decisions? What drives our choices? And what can we do to make better decisions?

Lucy Lai

lai@ucsd.edu

Hi everyone, I’m a new faculty member at UCSD and excited to be teaching COGS 180 this quarter! In this course, we’ll explore decision making from all the branches of cognitive science: neuroscience, psychology, design, ML, and more. You’re always welcome to come to my office hours to ask questions or just say hello. I’m looking forward to a great quarter together!

Office Hours

• Prof. Lai:
  • Tues, 2-3pm (book ↗ only) @ CSB 244/Zoom
  • Wed, 4:30-5:30pm (walk-in) @ CSB 244
  • Thurs, 2-3pm (walk-in) @ CSB 244
• Sujin: During discussion section
• Gaby: Monday, 12-1p @ Zoom
• Sharon: Monday, 2-3p @ Zoom

Course Schedule

Week 1 — Course Intro & Cognitive Biases

Jan 6 (Tu)

LEC 1 Course intro and overview 🎥

Slides

HW 1 released!

Details

Pre-course survey released!

Details

💡 Webclicker 101

Jan 8 (Th)

LEC 2 Cognitive biases and heuristics 🎥

Slides

Jan 9 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122 Slides

• 10am activity slides
• 11am activity slides

Pre-course survey due 11:59pm

Submit

HW 1 due 11:59pm Gradescope code: YBR264

Submit

Week 2 — Behavioral Economics

Jan 12 (M)

Quiz 1 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Quiz Reflection due @ 11:59pm

Submit

HW 2 released!

Details

Jan 13 (Tu)

LEC 3 Rational choice and expected utility theory 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Normative theories of rational choice: expected utility
• Econ graphs: expected utility

Jan 15 (Th)

LEC 4 Prospect theory 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk
• Excerpt from Thinking Fast and Slow

Jan 16 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

[Slides]

HW 2 due 11:59pm

Submit

PROJECT Group-finding survey

Week 3 - Decision Making Under Constraints

Jan 19 (M)

Quiz 2 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Quiz Reflection due @ 11:59pm

Submit

HW 3 released! due Saturday (+1 day)

Details

Jan 20 (Tu)

LEC 5 Bounded rationality 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• What is bounded rationality?
• Precis of Simple heuristics that make us smart

Jan 22 (Th)

LEC 6 Resource rationality 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Computational rationality: linking mechanism and behavior through bounded utility maximization
• Resource-rational analysis: Understanding human cognition as the optimal use of limited computational resources

Jan 23 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

[Slides]

PROJECT Project group-finding survey due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Jan 24 (Sa)

HW 3 due 11:59pm (+1 extra day)

Submit

Week 4 — Decision Making Under Uncertainty

Jan 26 (M)

Quiz 3 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

HW 4 released! due Saturday

Details

Jan 27 (Tu)

LEC 7 Noisy decision making 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• A practical introduction to using the drift diffusion model of decision-making
• Perceptual decision making: drift-diffusion model is equivalent to a Bayesian model

Jan 29 (Th)

LEC 8 Bayesian decision theory 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Bayesian decision models: A primer
• Probabilistic brains: knowns and unknowns
• Bayesian decision theory in sensorimotor control

Jan 30 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

Slides

Jan 31 (Sa)

HW 4 due 11:59pm

Submit

Week 5 — Reinforcement Learning, Dopamine, Goals & Habits

Feb 2 (M)

Quiz 4 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Feb 3 (Tu)

LEC 9 Reinforcement learning and dopamine 🎥

Slides

HW 5

Details

📚 Readings

• Reinforcement learning in the brain — 🌟 a must read!
• Dopamine reward prediction error coding
• Neural basis of reinforcement learning and decision making

Feb 5 (Th)

LEC 10 Goals and habits 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Goals and habits in the brain
• Model-based decision making and model-free learning

Feb 6 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

• TD learning in addiction problem
• Group project tips

Feb 7 (Sa)

HW 5 due 11:59pm

Submit

Week 6 — Neuroscience

Feb 9 (M)

Quiz 5 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

PROJECT Project Checkpoint 1 (Proposal) due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Feb 10 (Tu)

LEC 11 Neuroeconomics 🎥

Slides

HW 6

Details

📚 Readings

• Neuroeconomics: the consilience of brain and decision
• A framework for studying the neurobiology of value-based decision making

Feb 12(Th)

LEC 12 Neural correlates of decisions 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• The neural basis of decision making
• The neurobiology of decision: consensus and controversy

Feb 13 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

Slides

Feb 14 (Sa)

HW 6 due 11:59pm

Submit

Week 7 — Disorders of Decision Making

Feb 16 (M)

Quiz 6 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Feb 17 (Tu)

LEC 13 Disorders of decision making 🎥

Slides

HW 7 released! due Saturday.

Details

📚 Readings

• Decision making, impulse control and loss of willpower to resist drugs: a neurocognitive perspective
• Decision making: from neuroscience to psychiatry

Feb 19 (Th)

LEC 14 Computational psychiatry 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Computational psychiatry of ADHD: neural gain impairments across marrian levels of analysis
• Computational psychiatry as a bridge from neuroscience to clinical applications
• From reinforcement learning models to psychiatric and neurological disorders

Feb 20 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

[Slides]

Feb 21 (Sa)

HW 7 due 11:59pm

Submit

Week 8 — Designing for Decision Making

Feb 23 (M)

Quiz 7 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

PROJECT Project Checkpoint 1.5 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Feb 24 (Tu)

LEC 15 Nudging and choice architecture 🎥

Slides

HW 8 released!

Details

📚 Readings

• Nudge (Intro & Chapter 1)
• The effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domains

Feb 26 (Th)

LEC 16 Designing decision environments 🎥

Slides

📚 Readings

• Beyond nudges: Tools of a choice architecture
• Decision making with visualizations: a cognitive framework across disciplines

Feb 27 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

[Slides]

Feb 28 (Sa)

HW 8 due 11:59pm

Submit

Week 9 — Making Decisions With Machines

Mar 2 (M)

Quiz 8 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

PROJECT Project Progress due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Mar 3 (Tu)

LEC 17 Machine learning for decision making 🎥

[Slides]

📚 Readings

• Algorithmic Decision Making and the Cost of Fairness

Mar 5 (Th)

LEC 18 AI-assisted decision making 🎥

[Slides]

📚 Readings

• Towards a Science of Human-AI Decision Making: An Overview of Design Space in Empirical Human-Subject Studies

Mar 6 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122

[Slides]

Mar 7 (Sa)

HW 9 due 11:59pm

Submit

Mar 8 (Su)

PROJECT Project Checkpoint 2 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Week 10 — Final Project Presentations

Mar 9 (M)

Quiz 9 due @ 11:59pm

Submit

Mar 10 (Tu)

LEC 19 Project Expo 1 - Oral Presentations

[Slides]

Mar 12 (Th)

LEC 20 Project Expo 2 - Written Papers

[Slides]

Mar 13 (F)

DISC NO DISCUSSION SECTION

Mar 13-18 (F-W)

PROJECT Final project oral presentations with Prof. Lai. Please book a presentation date and time. No need to submit anything, grading will be done during the presentation.

Mar 16 (M)

PROJECT Written papers due 11:59pm No need to submit anything, we will begin grading in your linked document from Checkpoint 2 immediately after.