Decision Making 🤔| Winter 2026

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

Lucy Lai

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 OR 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

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

Jan 13 (Tu)

LEC 3 Rational choice and expected utility theory 🎥: [Slides]

Jan 15 (Th)

LEC 4 Behavioral economics and prospect theory 🎥: [Slides]

Jan 16 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: [Slides]

HW 2 due 11:59pm: [Submit]

Week 3 - Decision Making Under Constraints

Jan 19 (M)

Quiz 2 due @ 11:59pm: Submit

Jan 20 (Tu)

LEC 5 Bounded & resource rationality 🎥: Slides

Jan 22 (Th)

LEC 6 Decision making under constraints 🎥: Slides

Jan 23 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

HW 3 due 11:59pm: Submit

Week 4 — Decision Making Under Uncertainty

Jan 26 (M)

Quiz 3 due @ 11:59pm: Submit

Jan 27 (Tu)

LEC 7 Noisy decision making 🎥: Slides

Jan 28 (Th)

LEC 8 Bayesian decision theory 🎥: Slides

Jan 30 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

HW 4 due 11:59pm: Submit

Week 5 — Reinforcement Learning and Dopamine

Feb 2 (M)

Quiz 4 due @ 11:59pm: Submit

Feb 3 (Tu)

LEC 9 Reinforcement learning 🎥: Slides

Feb 5 (Th)

LEC 10 Dopamine and actor-critic models 🎥: Slides

Feb 6 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

HW 5 due 11:59pm: Submit

Week 6 — Neuroscience

Feb 9 (M)

Quiz 5 due @ 11:59pm: Submit

Feb 10 (Tu)

LEC 11 Neural correlates of decisions 🎥: Slides

Feb 12(Th)

LEC 12 Neuroeconomics 🎥: Slides

Feb 13 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

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

Feb 19 (Th)

LEC 14 Computational psychiatry 🎥: Slides

Feb 20 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

HW 7 due 11:59pm: Submit

Week 8 — Designing for Decision Making

Feb 19 (M)

Quiz 7 due @ 11:59pm: Submit

Feb 20 (Tu)

LEC 15 Nudging and choice architecture 🎥: Slides

Feb 26 (Th)

LEC 16 Human-centered decision environments 🎥: Slides

Feb 27 (F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

HW 8 due 11:59pm: Submit

Week 9 — Making Decisions With Machines

Mar 2 (M)

Quiz 8 due @ 11:59pm: Submit

Mar 3 (Tu)

LEC 17 Machine learning for decision making 🎥: Slides

Mar 5 (Th)

LEC 18 AI-assisted decision making 🎥: Slides

Mar 6(F)

DISC 10a & 11a @ DIB 122: Slides

HW 9 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: Slides

Mar 12 (Th)

LEC 20 Project expo 2: Slides

Mar 13 (F)

DISC NO DISCUSSION SECTION

PROJECT due 11:59pm: Submit