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London Judgment and Decision Making Seminar Series

Originally established at UCL in the early 1970’s as a weekly Cognition and Reasoning seminar, it later became an intercollegiate seminar on Language and Cognition in the early 1980’s. The name LJDM was finally coined in 1990, and the group has been running seminars under this name ever since, with lecturers and researchers in and around the UK meeting on a regular basis to discuss judgment and decision-making, judgments of likelihood, reasoning, thinking, problem solving, forecasting, risk perception and communication, and other related topics.

The LJDM seminar series is supported by:

University College London
City, University of London
Kings College London

Unless specified otherwise, all seminars take place on Wednesdays from 5:15-6:15 PM UK time. The seminar series will be held in a hybrid format via Zoom as well as at University College London. 

To get updates on the current schedule and weekly reminders of the seminars, please subscribe to the Risk and Decision mailing list and follow our X accountAll are welcome to attend.

Titles, abstracts and recordings (where available) of previous seminars can be found here. 

If you would like to present your research to the group or to suggest a speaker, please contact the organizers:


Academic Year 2024/25

 

  • Wednesday September 25, 2024 

Speaker: Prof Benedetto De Martino, University College London. 

Title: Value, Goals and Abstractions in Decision Making 

Abstract: In the fields of neuroscience and machine learning, “value” has often been used interchangeably with “reward,” emphasising its hedonic aspect while neglecting its functional, concept-like nature. However, in real life, we rarely receive discrete numerical rewards at the end of our actions and need to build our own values. In this talk, I will present some work from our lab that challenges the canonical view that equates value and reward by showing how the brain is able to construct the value of an option or action on-the-fly by building abstractions that flexibly adapt to changing goals. I will demonstrate how this mechanism can facilitate learning and foster generalisation. Overall, I will discuss how rethinking the true nature of value is both feasible and necessary.

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 421, Roberts Building. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

  • Wednesday October 2, 2024 

Speaker: TBC

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 421, Roberts Building. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

  • Wednesday October 9, 2024 

Speaker: Dr Konstantinos Tsetsos, University of Bristol.

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 421, Roberts Building. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

  • Wednesday October 16, 2024 

Speaker: Dr Tim Mullett, Warwick Business School. 

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 421, Roberts Building. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

  • Wednesday October 23, 2024 

Speaker: Dr Tom Reader, London School of Economics. 

Title: Stakeholder safety action: patients and families intervening to prevent medical errors in hospitals.

Abstract: Research in healthcare finds that patients and families frequently intercede in the decision-making and work of clinicians in order to prevent adverse events (e.g., wrong diagnosis). This is significant for research on safety and risk, because it suggests that external stakeholders (e.g., service-users) can act as form of ‘safety net’ for catching errors and addressing problems in decision-making within organisations. I explored this idea by theorizing the concept of ‘stakeholder safety action’: this relates to stakeholders engaging in voicing (e.g., speaking-up) and correcting (e.g., fixing mistakes) behaviours in order to resolve perceived errors within an organisation and prevent them from causing harm. I investigated safety action by undertaking a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 1,857 written complaints sent by patients and families to UK hospitals about experiences of unsafe treatments. The analysis found patients routinely reported engaging in voicing and correcting behaviours, with these being elicited by concerns about decision-making (e.g., in making diagnoses, dispensing medicines) being missed or not resolved by staff. Through these behaviours, and depending on how staff responded to them, patients described trying to prevent accidents in three escalating ways: helping staff to avoid errors (e.g., during diagnoses), pushing into clinical work to resolve perceived mistakes (by changing medications), and bypassing teams and hospitals judged irredeemably unsafe. I surmise that stakeholder safety action contributes to organizational safety by acting as an important – yet external and often unrecognised – source of resilience within organisations.

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 421, Roberts Building. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

  • Wednesday October 30, 2024 

Speaker: Dr Nicolette Sullivan, London School of Economics. 

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 421, Roberts Building. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

  • Wednesday November 6, 2024 - Reading Week - No talk

 

 

  • Wednesday November 13, 2024 

Speaker: Dr Claire Heard, King’s College London. 

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 780, IoE, 20 Bedford Way. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

 

  • Wednesday November 20, 2024 

Speaker: Dr Tim Rakow, King’s College London. 

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room W2.06, IoE, 20 Bedford Way. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

 

  • Wednesday November 27, 2024 

Speaker: Prof Ulrike Hahn, Birkbeck, University of London. 

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 731, IoE, 20 Bedford Way. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

 

  • Wednesday December 4, 2024 

Speaker: TBC

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 780, IoE, 20 Bedford Way. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

 

  • Wednesday December 11, 2024 

Speaker: Prof Sophie Scott, University College London. 

Title: TBC

Abstract: TBC

Time & Location:  17:15-18:15 UK time. Room 828, IoE, 20 Bedford Way. 

Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

 

* End of Term 1 - The seminar will resume on January 15 *