{"id":12,"date":"2020-08-31T03:49:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T03:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitmgmtfaculty.mit.edu\/rbhui\/about\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:07:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:07:53","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mitmgmtfaculty.mit.edu\/rbhui\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-12\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-12-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-12-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-12-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_mit-pf-wysiwyg widget_mit_pf_wysiwyg panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p>How is decision-making shaped by our cognitive and neural architecture? How are we capable of solving tremendously complex problems and yet suffer from persistent cognitive biases? What does this mean for business and policy?<\/p>\n<p>My goal is to figure out the deep unifying principles that let us explain both rationality and irrationality. To do this, I take a highly interdisciplinary approach that combines\u00a0<i>cognitive science<\/i>,\u00a0<i>computational neuroscience<\/i>, and\u00a0<i>behavioral economics<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>I develop and test theories of decision-making using a mix of computational modeling, laboratory experiments, and large-scale field data. This also means covering a diverse array of topics. Here are a few examples of questions I\u2019ve studied:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why do we feel disappointed when things fall short of our expectations? (What does this have to do the way our brains efficiently process information?)<\/li>\n<li>Do we spend the right amount of time making decisions, or do we overthink them? (How would we even be able to tell?)<\/li>\n<li>How do we make good choices from among hundreds of options? (Which restaurants do we order food from online?)<\/li>\n<li>When do we interpret seemingly negative information in a positive light? (What made the famous slogan from Avis, \u201cWe\u2019re No. 2\u2014that means we try harder,\u201d convincing?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019m especially interested in the idea that people are \u201ccomputationally rational\u201d\u2014we are doing as best as we can, given constraints on time, energy, and data. This idea can be formalized using frameworks like information theory, Bayesian inference, and reinforcement learning. Such an approach lets us understand how real people can behave adaptively in our complex world, and how the same cognitive processes can also lead to classic anomalies in decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m also interested in the roles of culture and biology, so I\u2019ve worked with collaborators to investigate agents that are at different stages of physiological development like adolescents, or from different kinds of societies like hunter-gatherers, or from different species like chimpanzees. This wide-angle view is essential for a comprehensive behavioral science.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ridiculous-podcast.com\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-682 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082748\/ridiculous_podcast-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Link to a podcast episode on Behavioral Economics &quot;They Thought We Were Ridiculous&quot;\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082748\/ridiculous_podcast-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082748\/ridiculous_podcast-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082748\/ridiculous_podcast-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082748\/ridiculous_podcast-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082748\/ridiculous_podcast.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/spotlight-videos\/b-school-backstage-episode-2-understanding-perspectives-ft-abhinav-kejriwal-rahul-bhui\/videoshow\/105641894.cms\"> \u00a0\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-683\" src=\"https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082953\/TOI_backstage-300x169.jpeg\" alt=\"Link to video interview by the Times of India\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082953\/TOI_backstage-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082953\/TOI_backstage-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082953\/TOI_backstage-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082953\/TOI_backstage-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/05\/27082953\/TOI_backstage.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.econ.uzh.ch\/en\/study\/phd\/mpgsn\/Annual-Marlene-Porsche-Graduate-School-of-Neuroeconomics-Symposium6.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-692\" src=\"https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/06\/30064927\/MPML_Rahul-Bhui_2024-1024x292.jpg\" alt=\"Marlene Porsche Memorial Keynote Lecture\" width=\"600\" height=\"171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/06\/30064927\/MPML_Rahul-Bhui_2024-1024x292.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/06\/30064927\/MPML_Rahul-Bhui_2024-300x86.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/06\/30064927\/MPML_Rahul-Bhui_2024-768x219.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/06\/30064927\/MPML_Rahul-Bhui_2024-1536x439.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mitsloan-php.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-faculty\/sites\/144\/2024\/06\/30064927\/MPML_Rahul-Bhui_2024-2048x585.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-12-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-12-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-12-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_mit-pf-wysiwyg widget_mit_pf_wysiwyg panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><h2 class=\"widget-title\">Collaborators<\/h2><div class=\"textwidget\"><p>Here are some of my collaborators:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hss.caltech.edu\/people\/colin-f-camerer\">Colin Camerer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cushmanlab.fas.harvard.edu\/\">Fiery Cushman<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mpg.de\/12309370\/biological-cybernetics-dayan\">Peter Dayan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gershmanlab.com\/\">Sam Gershman<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cocosci.princeton.edu\/tom\/index.php\">Tom Griffiths<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/henrich.fas.harvard.edu\/\">Joe Henrich<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/peiranjiao.wordpress.com\/\">Peiran Jiao<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/sydneymlevine\/\">Sydney Levine<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cognitivedatascience.org\/\">Derek Powell<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davidrand-cooperation.com\/\">Dave Rand<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/saxelab.mit.edu\/\">Rebecca Saxe<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cpilab.org\/\">Eric Schulz<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.mit.edu\/cocosci\/josh.html\">Josh Tenenbaum<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ejwagenmakers.com\/\">EJ Wagenmakers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How is decision-making shaped by our cognitive and neural architecture? How are we capable of solving tremendously complex problems and yet suffer from persistent cognitive biases? What does this mean for business and policy? My goal is to figure out the deep unifying principles that let us explain both rationality and irrationality. To do this, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-two-column.php","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Research - Rahul Bhui<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prior to joining the faculty at MIT, Rahul was Mind Brain Behavior Postdoctoral Fellow in the Departments of Psychology and Economics at Harvard University. He holds a BA (Hon) in Economics from the University of British Columbia, as well as an MS in Behavioral and Social Neuroscience and PhD in Computation and Neural Systems from Caltech.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mitmgmtfaculty.mit.edu\/rbhui\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prior to joining the faculty at MIT, Rahul was Mind Brain Behavior Postdoctoral Fellow in the Departments of Psychology and Economics at Harvard University. 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