MALKA220 Behavioral Economics Course description

This course provides an overview of behavioral economics for students and professionals interested in behavioral science. Whereas the focus is on a behavior analytic framework of choice behavior and decision-making, the course is highly interdisciplinary, as it includes concepts and cases drawn from economic, psychological, and social sciences.

Admission to the study program

On successful completion of the course, the student has the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student can

• describe and discuss the main distinctions between neoclassical economics, behavioral economics and behavior analysis, and define behavioral economics and describe the origins
• define the concepts of Homo economicus and bounded rationality
• define the core concepts of discounting
• define "beliefs, biases and heuristics" and describe typical heuristics
• define core principles in game theory

Skills

The student can

• discuss discounting in relation to the standard economic model and behavioral economics
• describe and discuss the concepts of rule-governed and contingency shaped behavior in the light of discounting
• discuss how nudging can affect choice, and analyze nudging in behavioral analytic terms
• discuss the concept of selection at the behavioral and cultural level in relation to micro- and macroeconomics
• discuss ethical concerns when influencing choice in the field of behavioral economics

Competence

The student can

• present core principles of behavioral economics to others in a way that meets the requirements of professional scientific communication
• present core principles of behavioral economics to the public
• discuss how behavior analysis can contribute to the field of behavioral economics
• present evidence based research from behavioral economics, and discuss different methods and applications
• discuss how the field of behavioral economics can contribute to further understanding of choice behavior

Campus-based lectures, exercises, oral presentations, discussions and individual papers are the main teaching methods. Students read selected texts in advance for each day of class, and everyone is expected to participate in class through questions and through joining in discussion. Feedback is used on written assignments.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• Complete an online sequence consisting of 5 modules containing videos, texts, quizzes and/or short essay questions (up to 710 characters including spaces), within a given deadline.

This course will show how behavioral principles and concepts from respondent and operant conditioning are applied in research and practice.

Kull 2025: Coursework requirements from MALKA211 and MALKA212 or equivalent must be approved to participate and submit coursework requirements in MALKA213.

Tidligere kull: Coursework requirements from MALK4000-401, MALK4000-403, MALKA211 and MALKA212 or equivalent must be approved to participate and submit coursework requirements in MALKA213.

On successful completion of the course, the student has the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student can

• describe the logic and the methodology of experimental designs

Skills

The student can

• demonstrate shaping of different types of behavior in animals by using computer software
• design and conduct experiments, either as single-case research designs or group designs
• write a manuscript in accordance with principles in the current edition of the APA manual, using data from the experiments
• use the principles for citations and references as given in the current edition of the APA manual
• write a review of a scientific topic and presents results from an experiment in line with relevant ethical standards for writing research papers

Competence

The student can

• ask and argue for relevant research questions
• describe methods of experiments
• present results from experiments
• discuss the results achieved in an experiment

The course includes all-day seminars, hands-on exercises, and discussion of different papers. Practical exercises are essential to this course and the exercises include the use of the software to conduct an experiment, and to write up the results from the experiment as a scientific paper. Students must have a laptop with the required software installed and means of payment for user license.