Postgraduate Course: The Neuropolitics of Decision-Making (fusion on-site) (EFIE11076)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | In this course we explore issues of emotion, rationality, trust, identity and belonging in relation to descision making. We ask how understanding the neural underpinnings of these processes might provide new insights into the decision-making process for policy makers and policy analysts. The availability of sophisticated neuroimaging tools, along with rapidly advancing understandings of the functioning of the brain, presents new opportunities and challenges for researchers and policy-makers.
This course introduces participants to the concept of neuropolitics and to the tools and approaches from the cognitive neurosciences that may have important applications in theory and in policy practice. |
| Course description |
This course introduces participants to the concept of neuropolitics, in the context of decision- making, and to a range of tools and methods that might be used to gain new insights into the decision-making process. Participants will learn about the relationships between brain, body and behaviour and how these might impact on decision behaviours in different contexts. The course will cover topics such as: the neuropolitics of identity; the partisan brain; emotion, rationality and decision-making; trust, information and the brain; and neuro-ethics.
Students will enjoy hands-on interaction in journal clubs, in lightning video presentation sessions, and in virtual or on-site interactive lab session where they can learn more about the techniques and approaches available to explore the neuropolitics of decision-making.
This course is taught in hybrid format: 2 week pre-intensive; 2 day intensive; 2 week post-intensive.
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - On-Site Fusion Course Delivery Information:
The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. This approach (our 'fusion' teaching model) offers students flexible and inclusive ways to study, and the ability to choose whether to be on-campus or online at the level of the individual course. It also opens up ways for diverse groups of students to study together regardless of geographical location. To enable this, the course will use technologies to record and live-stream student and staff participation during their teaching and learning activities.
Students should be aware that:
- Classrooms used in this course will have additional technology in place: students might not be able to sit in areas away from microphones or outside the field of view of all cameras.
- Unless the lecturer or tutor indicates otherwise you should assume the session is being recorded.
As part of your course, you will need access to a personal computing device. Unless otherwise stated activities will be web browser based and as a minimum we recommend a device with a physical keyboard and screen that can access the internet.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the contribution of a neuropolitical approach to the study of decision-making.
- Build on a basic understanding of functional neuroanatomy and investigate the relevance of this knowledge for decision-makers.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of key methods and tools applied in neuropolitical research, with respect to decision-making.
- Demonstrate analytical skills and an ability to lead and contribute to group learning in a timely and effective manner.
- Identify a research puzzle and develop an appropriate and ethical experimental approach to the problem identified.
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Reading List
Indicative Reading List:
Essential Reading:
Settle JE, Hibbing MV, Anspach NM, et al. Political psychophysiology: A primer for interested researchers and consumers. Politics and the Life Sciences. 2020;39(1):101-117. doi:10.1017/pls.2020.5
Glimcher PW, Fehr E (eds. . Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain. 2nd ed. Academic Press; 2014.
Verweij M, Senior TJ, DomÃnguez D JF, Turner R. Emotion, rationality, and decision-making: How to link affective and social neuroscience with social theory. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2015;9:332-332. doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00332
Van Bavel JJ, Pereira A. The Partisan Brain: An Identity-Based Model of Political Belief. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2018;22(3):213-224. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.01.004
Recommended Reading:
Moore A, Cram L. Trust in information, political identity, and the brain- An interdisciplinary fMRI study. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B3762020014020200140http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0140
Schreiber D. Neuropolitics: Twenty years later. Politics and the life sciences. 2017;36(2):114-131. doi:10.1017/pls.2017.25
Crockett MJ, Siegel JZ, Kurth-Nelson Z, Dayan P, Dolan RJ. Moral transgressions corrupt neural representations of value. Nature Neuroscience. 2017;20(6):879-885. doi:10.1038/nn.4557
Cacioppo JT, Cacioppo S, Petty RE. The neuroscience of persuasion: A review with an emphasis on issues and opportunities. Social Neuroscience. 2018;13(2):129-172. doi:10.1080/17470919.2016.1273851
Further Reading:
Lyon L. Dead salmon and voodoo correlations: Should we be sceptical about functional MRI? Brain (London, England: 1878). 2017;140(8):e53-e53. doi:10.1093/brain/awx180
Carlson TN, McClean CT, Settle JE. Follow Your Heart: Could Psychophysiology Be Associated with Political Discussion Network Homogeneity? Political Psychology. 2020;41(1):165-187. doi:10.1111/pops.12594
Declerck CH, Boone C, Emonds G. When do people cooperate? The neuroeconomics of prosocial decision making. Brain and Cognition. 2013;81(1):95-117. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2012.09.009
Voigt K, Voigt K, Murawski C, et al. Hard decisions shape the neural coding of preferences. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2019;39(4):718-726. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1681-18.2018 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Students will develop key theoretical knowledge and critical understanding through readings, discussion, group work and reflection on core texts (SCQF characteristic 1 & 2).
- Students will gain cognitive skills by designing their own experiments in relation to a contemporary decision-relevant challenge (SCQF characteristic 2).
- Students will develop communication skills by interacting with academic staff and their peers and by delivering multiple presentations live and in video and blog format (SCQF characteristic 3 & 4).
- Students will gain autonomy, accountability and learn to work with others by collaborating in small groups on their experimental work up preparation and during the preparation stage of their assessment, developing their communication skills, and gaining valuable skills in working with others (SCQF characteristics 3& 4). |
| Keywords | Neuropolitics,Decision-Making,Policy,Brain,Behaviour |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Laura Cram
Tel: (0131 6)51 5571
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Lawrence East
Tel:
Email: |
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