Econ 476/Econ 676/ ComSci 576:
Course Policies and General Course Info

Time and Place:

Tuesday, Thursday, 11:40-12:55, Baker 135

Lecturers:

Larry Blume, 430 Uris, lb19@cornell.edu, 5-9530

• Administrative Assistant: Eric Maroney, 412 Uris, em75@cornell.edu, 5-9901
• Office hours: Fri. 10:00 - 12:00

David Easley, 450 Uris, dae3@cornell.edu, 5-6283

• Administrative Assistant: Amy Hyatt, 404 Uris, alg5@cornell.edu, 5-4254
• Office hours: Wed. 10:00 - 12:00

J. Halpern, 4144 Upson, halpern@cs.cornell.edu, 5-9562

• Administrative Assistant: Cindy Robinson, 4146 Upson, cindy@cs, 5-0985
• Office hours: Thurs., 2-3 or by email request

What the course is about:

It's a new course, combining approaches to decision theory from computer science, economics, and game theory. It's intended for advanced undergraduates and graduates students in computer science, economics, mathematics, philosophy, and cognitive science. The course has several objectives, reflected in the topics on the reading list. First, we will cover basic decision theory, also known as ``rational choice theory''. Second, we will cover the limitations and problems with this theory, both as it applies to computers and to human agents. (The problems are not the same in all cases.) Issues to be discussed here include decision theory paradoxes revealed by experiments, cognitive limitations, and computational issues. Third, we will cover new research designed in response to these difficulties. This is a two-semester course. It is OK to take the only Fall semester. The Fall semester will be lecture-based. In the spring, we will have a combination of lectures and visiting speakers. In the Spring semester, students will be required to complete a research project.

Prerequisites:

Mathematical sophistication is more important for this class than mathematical technique. The required technical background is the basic elements of probability theory -- random variables, expectations, and conditioning.

Grading:

There will be one midterm (the tentative date is October 10, in class) and a final, given at the regularly scheduled time (December 19, 3:00 - 5:30). We believe that doing homework regularly is the best way to learn the material, and the grading reflects that. Homework will be handed out every other week. Students taking Econ 676 and ComSci 576 will have extra problems. Homework, midterm, and exams will be weighted roughly as follows:

• Problems sets: 30%
• Midterm: 25%
• Final: 45%

Late Homework Policy: Homework will only be accepted in class and on time unless a prior arrangement is made with one of the instructors. To compute the final homework grade, we will drop your lowest homework grade. If you miss handing in an assignment (for emergency, illness, whatever), this will be the one dropped. Academic Integrity: It's OK to discuss the problems with others, but you MUST write up solutions on your own, and understand what you are writing. You may not copy any part of someone else's code or written homework. To do so is a violation of the Academic Integrity Code.

Texts:

• Notes on the Theory of Choice, David Kreps, Westview Press, 1988.
• Choices: An Introduction to Decision Theory, Michael Resnik, University of Minnesota Press, 2000.

Various readings will also be handed out.

Newsgroup:

There is a newsgroup for the class: cornell.class.cs576. You should subscribe to the newsgroup. Post questions to the newsgroup regarding homework (or anything else relevant to the course), we will try to answer it, usually the same day that you post it. If you don't know how to read newsgroups, there is information on the web site. (If you also don't know how to access the web site, please see one of us.)