Mental Models and Learning: The Case of Base-Rate Neglect

Join us for the first event of the Microeconomics Research Seminar Series, Autumn Term 2020.

Professor Sevgi Yuksel from the Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara will present their research on Mental Models and Learning: The Case of Base-Rate Neglect. 

Abstract 

We study whether suboptimal behavior can persist in the presence of feedback and examine the role that incorrect mental models play in this persistence. Focusing on a simple updating problem, we document using a laboratory experiment the evolution of beliefs in response to feedback. We compare a baseline treatment, in which a majority of subjects display base-rate neglect (BRN) in initial beliefs, to a control treatment that does not allow for BRN as a mental model but in which learning from feedback is similarly possible.

This seminar will be held via Zoom. This event is open to all levels of study and is also open to the public. To register your place and gain access to the webinar, please contact the seminar organisers.

This event is part of the Microeconomics Research Seminar Series.