AMNH International Polar Exploration Symposium

March 10-11, 2007
American Museum of Natural History, International Polar Exploration Symposium
New York, NY

Why do some people willingly expose themselves to extreme situations? CRED researchers presented information on decision making under uncertainty and weather-related risk attitudes at the American Museum of Natural History‘s International Polar Year Symposium, “New York and Polar Research – A Partnership Spanning the Centuries”. The program focused on bringing attention to New York City’s century-long involvement with polar exploration. The program was designed to focus attention on how the local, urban environment of New York, interacts with the remote environments of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Sabine Marx presented a talk, “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Graphs: The Psychology of Environmental Decision Making”. As part of the polar fair, CRED researchers administered an online version of the DOSPERT risk taking scale developed by CRED Co-Director Elke Weber. It measures whether an individual is a risk taker or risk averse in different aspects of their life including social, recreational, and weather-related risk. The event was open to the public.

More information about the lectures offered that weekend can be found here.