Our research
Understanding motivations and reasoning behind behavior
LABEL is dedicated to bringing novel and interdisciplinary approaches to understand how people make decisions. There are two premises:
Our decisions result from how we process information and they are highly impacted by biological factors. There is converging evidence that differences in brain activation patterns or hormonal responses are associated with differences in cognition and behavior. Understanding these factors is key to explain and predict behavior, and design intervention that optimizes life outcomes.
Our biology is changing over the life cycle. Changes are particularly dramatic throughout development and during the ageing process. Given the existence of a close relationship between biology and decision-making, age-related behavioral differences in risk attitude or logical thinking are likely causally linked to age-related biological changes.
Developmental decision-making
We study how behavior in decision-making paradigms changes from preschool to adulthood and how these changes relate to cognitive development.
Non-choice data
We collect information on processes that accompany choices, such as attention or biological markers, to study the relationship between behavior and those processes.
Test of theory
We assess the reliability of the standard economic theories and new behavioral paradigms to explain and predict observed behavior.
Ageing
We study how ageing impacts decision-making and how observed behavior relates to age-related decline in cognitive abilities and changes in emotional processing.
Funding
We are grateful to the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health for funding recent projects.
The evolution of collective decision- making from childhood to adulthood: markets, networks and institutions (NSF SES 2315770, I. Brocas (PI) and J. Carrillo (PI))
Developmental game theory and decision-making (NSF SES 1851915, I. Brocas (PI) and J. Carrillo (PI))
Neuroeconomics of sugars: Glucose vs. fructose effects on reward signaling (NIDA DA042272-01A1, I. Brocas (Co-I), J. Monterosso (PI) and K. Page (PI))
A Neuroeconomic study of choice consistency in aging (NIA AG046917-01A1, I. Brocas (PI), J. Monterosso (PI), M. Mather (PI) and J. Carrillo (Co-I))
Attentional lookups as a measure of reasoning and motivation (NSF SES 1425062, I. Brocas (PI) and J. Carrillo (PI))
