Gamblers ‘have key to good decision-making’

Expert gamblers are less prone to the cognitive biases that affect most of us and as a result, they can think about risk more clearly, according to a new report.

In the next lecture of the 2010 College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) Public Lecture Series at UCC, Dr Dylan Evans will present his initial findings from recent interviews conducted with expert gamblers and outline some ways for thinking more wisely about risky choices.

Members of the public are also invited to test their risk intelligence by visiting a new website that Dr Evans has set up to gather more data for his research: http://www.projectionpoint.com/

The lecture titled “Risk Intelligence — How expert gamblers can teach us all to make better decisions” will be delivered on Wednesday at 8pm in Boole IV Lecture Theatre.

Dr Dylan Evans is lecturer in Behavioural Science in the School of Medicine at UCC. He is the author of several popular science books, including ‘Emotion: The Science of Sentiment’ (Oxford University Press, 2001) and ‘Placebo: The Belief Effect’ (Harper Collins, 2003) and writes regularly for The Guardian. He is a distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association and a member of the British Fulbright Scholars Association.

Admission to the lecture is free and, as always, members of the public are invited to attend. See http://understandingscience.ucc.ie

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.