You will prepare and submit a term paper on Critical Evaluation of McGuire and Botvinick’s Study. Your paper should be a minimum of 2250 words in length. The article provides more information on the cost-benefit analysis of decision-making. It has used simple decisions to help the reader comprehend various responses. Clinical depressions can be caused by increased decision cost in an individual. This is the reason why most decision-makers prefer the minimizing demands to increase the working memory.
The study has carried out various experiments to prove the hypothesis that tasks configurations and other made decision depend on the costs. It has also highlighted neural mechanisms that contribute to the costs of decision-making. During the investments, costs are evaluated through various degrees of engagement based on the brain regions (McGuire & Botvinick, 2010). Sections of the brain include the dorsomedial frontal cortex and the lateral prefrontal cortex. The experiments test the activities in administrative control-related brain section. Measurements are done through the applicant’s tendency to avoid any demanding task allocated to him/her. The research takes into account external factors leading to controlled environments.
The study has used laboratory testing methods that have included 12 participants to document costs incurred during decision-making in selected tasks (McGuire & Botvinick, 2010). The tests include changing of trials frequently that require executive control. Assumptions are that the participants will choose less demanding tasks. Its effects will be recorded on different parts of the brain that will be investigated for any activities. The participants were Princeton University Members aged 18-22 in the second experiment and 18-34 in the first experiment.
Programming of the behavioural test was done using E-prime that was obtained from Psychology Software Tools Inc. (McGuire & Botvinick, 2010). The choice signal appeared to the participants as a patch to reveal coloured numbers using a computer. Each participant was to complete 75 trails where he/she would respond through the use of the left hand. The time interval between the switches was 250ms, but individual choices were self-placed.
