Decision Psychology and Complexity: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

UQTR Conference

Benoît Béchard's Conference
April 16, 2025, at 7:00 PM
Hybrid format: In Room 1051MS, Michel-Sarrazin Building, UQTR, and online.

Registration required for in-person participation

Registration for Zoom

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Summary:

Real-world decision-making environments are characterized by complexity: a large number of interconnected variables that evolve in dynamic and unpredictable ways, incomplete information, and sometimes conflicting objectives. In the face of this complexity, human cognition relies on heuristics and simplification strategies that reduce cognitive load and facilitate decision-making, thereby avoiding analysis paralysis. However, these adaptive mechanisms can lead to problematic behaviors, errors, and biases. A particularly relevant methodological framework to study these phenomena is the micromodel simulation in dynamic decision-making, which allows researchers to observe in a controlled context how individuals adapt (or fail to adapt) to the complex environments of the real world. In this conference, Benoît Béchard will explore the relationship between human cognition and complexity, drawing on concrete examples and recent research findings to illustrate the limits and possibilities of human cognition in the face of the major social challenges of our time.

Biography:

Dr. Benoît Béchard is an associate researcher at Laval University and a researcher in decision sciences at the RISC Center. During his doctoral training, he completed a funded research internship in decision theory and experimental games at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. His research on decision-making, complexity, and cognitive biases has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Quebec Research Fund – Society and Culture (FRQSC), and Mitacs Canada. He is listed on the Dean’s Honour Roll at Laval University for his thesis Simply Human: A Study of Political Complexity.