ABSTRACT
The intersection between the fields of behavioral decision research and neuroscience would appear to be fertile ground for interdisciplinary research. Whereas the former is rich in formalized models of choice, the latter is rife with techniques for testing behavioral models at the brain level. Nevertheless, it is only recently that an integrative approach has been embraced leading to the emergence of a full-fledged neuroscience of decision making. For example, in their introduction to Neurobiology of Decision-making, Damasio and colleagues argued that neuroscience had overlooked decision making as much as it had overlooked emotion (Damasio, Damasio, & Christen, 1996). Although this was an accurate description of the state of affairs in the mid-1990s, it is no longer true today. The intervening years have witnessed a steady narrowing of the gap between the two fields as neuroscientific approaches have been employed ever more frequently to tackle key theoretical and applied issues in judgment and decision making. There is a growing sense that biological data can inform judgment and decision-making research by shedding light on its component cognitive and emotional processes (Sanfey, 2007). Our aim with this book has been to provide a coherent framework for distilling some of the key themes that have emerged as a function of this research program, and to highlight what we have learned about judgment and decision making as a result of this process.
