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Mark Orloff's Dissertation Defense (8/23/2021): Risky Decision Making Under Social Influence

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Mark Orloff

In Person Dissertation Defense: Risky Decision Making Under Social Influence

Mark Orloff

Graduate Student, Virginia Tech Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
Graduate Research Assistant, Chiu Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Aug. 23, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.
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About this Dissertation

Risky decision-making and social influence are associated with many health-risk behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol use. However, more work is necessary to understand risky decision-making and social influence. Additionally, to identify ways to change individuals’ engagement in health-risk behaviors, more work is necessary to understand how risky decision-making and social influence can be changed. Here, computational modeling, a way to quantify individual’s behavior, is used in a series of studies to 1) understand how individuals make risky decisions under social influence (Study 1) and 2) test ways in which individuals can be guided to change the way they respond to social influence (Study 2) and make risky decisions (Study 3). Study 1 shows that individuals who do not have strong preferences respond to social information in a different way than those who do, and utilizes neuroimaging to identify a particular brain region which may be responsible for this process. Study 2 shows that individuals are more influenced by others when they ask to see their choices, as compared to passively viewing others’ choices. Study 3 shows that a brain–computer interface can be used to guide individuals to change their brain activity related to risky decision-making and preliminarily demonstrates that following this training individuals change their risky decisions. Together, these studies further the field’s understanding of how individuals make risky decisions under social influence and suggest avenues for behavior change in risky decision-making under social influence.

More About the Candidate and Project

Education

Virginia Tech Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Ph.D. Candidate

Virginia Tech, B.S., Psychology

Training

Graduate Research Assistant, Chiu Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

 

Mentor

Pearl Chiu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Committee Members

Honors

  • Roanoke Graduate Student Association Executive Board, Fall 2019–Spring 2020
  • Graduate Student Assembly Travel Award, Spring 2020
  • TBMH Research Symposium Outstanding Abstract, Fall 2019
  • Virginia-Nordic Precision Neuroscience Conference Travel Award, Spring 2018
  • Graduate Student Assembly Travel Award, Spring 2018
  • Graduate Student Assembly Travel Award, Spring 2017
  • Graduate Student Assembly Travel Award, Fall 2015

Publications

Chung D, Orloff MA, Lauharatanahirun N, King-Casas B, & Chiu PH. (2020) Valuation of peers’ safe choices is associated with substance-naïveté in adolescents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

Orloff MA, Chung D, Gu X, Gao Z, Song G, Tatineni C, Wang X, Xu S, King-Casas B, & Chiu PH. (In preparation) Social conformity emerges as a heuristic during decision-making in humans with insula lesions

Orloff MA, Chung D, Delattre B, King-Casas B, Chiu PH. (In preparation) Having agency in acquiring social information increases the value of social information in risky decision-making

Oral Presentations

Risky Decision-Making Under Social Influence. Affective Brain Lab Seminar Series; February 2021; University College of London.

Risky Decision-Making Under Social Influence. Research in Progress Seminar Series; October 2020; Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (internal seminar series).

Risky Decision-Making Under Social Influence. Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Advisory Board; Fall 2020; Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

Using Machine Learning to Predict Behavior From Brain Activity. Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Research Symposium; Fall 2019; Virginia Tech.

Toward group classification models for rtfMRI neurofeedback using data from a decision-making task. Organization for Human Brain Mapping; June 2019; Rome, Italy.

Insula, but not dACC, is necessary for risky decision-making under social influence. Virginia-Nordic Precision Neuroscience; September 2018; Oslo, Norway.

How Do Social Others Influence Our Decisions? A Neuroscience Approach. Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Research Symposium; Fall 2017; Virginia Tech.

Poster Presentations

Orloff MA, Soldate J, Lisinski J, LaConte S, King-Casas B, and Chiu PH. Online decoding for rtfMRI neurofeedback via group classification models of a decision-making task. Organization for Human Brain Mapping; June 2020, Montreal, Québec, Canada.

Orloff MA, Soldate J, Lisinski J, LaConte S, King-Casas B, and Chiu PH. Toward group classification models for rtfMRI neurofeedback using data from a decision-making task. Organization for Human Brain Mapping; June 2019; Rome, Italy.

Orloff MA, Chung D, Delattre B, Lee J, King-Casas B, Chiu PH. Having agency in acquiring social information increases social influence. International Convention of Psychological Science; March 2019; Paris, France.

Orloff MA, Chung D, Gu X, Gao Z, Song G, Tatineni C, Wang X, Xu S, King-Casas B, & Chiu PH. Insula, but not dACC, is necessary for risky decision-making under social influence. Virginia-Nordic Precision Neuroscience; September 2018; Oslo, Norway.

Orloff MA, Chung D, Delattre B, Lee J, King-Casas B, Chiu PH. Having agency in acquiring social information increases social influence. Organization for Human Brain Mapping; June 2018, Singapore.

Orloff MA, Chung D, Gu X, Gao Z, Song G, Tatineni C, Wang X, Xu S, King-Casas B, & Chiu PH. Dissociating the roles of insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in risk evaluation. Organization for Human Brain Mapping; June 2017; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Orloff M, Chung D, King-Casas B, & Chiu PH. Influence from safe others in adolescence is associated with substance abstinence. Virginia-Nordic Precision Neuroscience; September 2016; Roanoke, Virginia, USA.

Orloff MA, Coffman MC, Trubanova A, Ruloff M, White SW, Gracanin D, Kim I, Bell MA, LaConte SM, & Richey JA. Increased dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and precuneus activation precede correct emotion identification. Society for Neuroscience; October 2015; Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Orloff MA & Ross RG. Mismatch Negativity at One Month Predicts Perception Deficits at Four Years. University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; August 2014; Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Orloff MA, Gogtay N, Penzak SR, Overman G. The Effect of Blood Plasma Clozapine Levels on Specific Measures of Behavior in Childhood Onset Schizophrenia. National Institutes of Health; August 2013; Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

  • NeuroSURF and Molecular Visualization SURF Summer Symposium Poster Judge, Summer 2021
  • State Science Fair Grand Prize Judge, Fall 2020
  • Grandin Court Elementary School Brain Day, Spring 2019
  • High School Science Fair Judge, Fall 2019, 2021
  • State Science Fair Judge, Fall 2018, 2019
  • Regional Science Fair Judge, Fall 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
  • West Salem Elementary STEM Night, Spring 2017, 2018

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