2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Decision Making A
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Takehiro Inohara
- Class Format
- Lecture (HyFlex)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Mon
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.T108
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 27, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course deals with important decision making problems in decision making theories. Through lectures, discussion, and working on exercise problems, we examine solutions of the problems, evaluation criteria for comparison of the solutions, insights drawn from the results of the comparison.
This course aims to cultivate the students’ interests in decision making theories as well as to acquaint the students with essential decision making problems, solutions of the problems, advantages and disadvantages of the solutions, and fundamental concepts and basic knowledge in decision making theories.
Course description and aims
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1) State essential decision making problems and solutions of them;
2) Explain criteria for the comparison of the solutions, and insights drawn from the results of the comparison; and
3) Explain fundamental concepts and basic knowledge in decision making theories.
Keywords
value criterion, elections; allocations, mechanism design, committees; games in normal form, games in extensive form, social networks
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
One class deals with one or two decision making problem(s).
First, a lecture on one or two decision making problem(s) is presented. Then, the students examine the contents of the lecture, and work on exercises. After the class, each student writes and submits a “summary report” on what he/she learned through individual observation, other students' ideas, the lecture, and exercises. Also, the students submit the answers to the exercises.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Guidance, Self introduction, “Waiting for a cart” and “The slowest is the winner” | State at least three topics this course treats. Make at least three new friends in the class. Explain the problems of “Waiting for a cart” and “The slowest is the winner” and their solutions. |
| Class 2 | “Sharing the water” and “Election of the chief of the village” | Explain the problems of "Sharing the water" and "Election of the chief of the village" and their solutions. |
| Class 3 | “Allocation of the expense for a cart” | Explain the problem of "Allocation of the expense for a cart" and its solutions. |
| Class 4 | “Location of a garbage dump” | Explain the problem of "Location of a garbage dump" and its solutions. |
| Class 5 | “Prisoners’ dilemma” and “Chicken game” | Explain the problems of "Prisoners' dilemma" and "Chicken game" and their solutions. |
| Class 6 | “A centipede game” | Explain the problem of "A centipede game" and its solutions. |
| Class 7 | “The gift of the Magi” | Explain the problem of "The gift of the Magi" and its solutions. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Course materials will be provided via Science Tokyo LMS and other means.
For more advanced information, refer to:
-Takehiro Inohara, “Rationality and Flexibility,” Keiso-syobo, 2002 (in Japanese) (ISBN-10: 4326502223, ISBN-13: 978-4326502226)
-Takehiro Inohara, “Emotions and Perception,” Keiso-syobo, 2002 (in Japanese) (ISBN-10: 4326502231, ISBN-13: 978-4326502233)
-Takehiro Inohara (ed.), “Consensus Building, Keiso-syobo, 2011 (in Japanese) (ISBN-13: 978-4326301966)
-Takehiro Inohara, “GMCR: An Introduction,”Keiso-syobo, 2023 (in Japanese) (ISBN-13: 978-4326504985）
Evaluation methods and criteria
Assessment will be based on “summary reports (brief summary of what you learned in each class)" (50% in total) and answers to exercises (50% in total.)
There will be no final exam.
There are no make-up assignments for any absence from classes, regardless of the reason.
Read the course materials to find out the content of the class you missed.
Related courses
- LAH.T208 ： Decision Making B
- LAH.T307 ： Decision Making C
- LAH.T107 ： Social Modeling A
- LAH.T209 ： Social Modeling B
- LAH.T308 ： Social Modeling C
Prerequisites
Prospective students should have interests in decision making problems.
Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).
Prof. Takehiro Inohara, inostaff[at]shs.ens.isct.ac.jp
When inquiring by emails, include the course title "Decision Making A" in the subject, and your student ID and name in the body of the email.
Office hours
Make an appointment by email.
Other
This course includes the content of science.