Summer Springboard
Behavioral Economics: Decision-Making & Human Behavior
ON THE CAMPUS OF BARNARD COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
DISCOVER WHY WE CHOOSE THE WAY WE DO. EXPLORE THE SCIENCE OF DECISIONS AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR.
THIS IS A TWO-WEEK PROGRAM WHERE YOU’LL FOCUS ON ONE COURSE FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION.
Behavioral Economics: Decision-Making & Human Behavior @ Barnard College
- Discover how the brain shapes personal, financial, and social decision-making.
- Explore cognitive biases, mental shortcuts, and the science behind seemingly irrational choices.
- Participate in hands-on experiments and simulations focused on risk, reward, and social influence.
- Design, conduct, and analyze original behavioral experiments to draw real-world conclusions.
- Learn how insights from neuroeconomics impact business, policy, and social initiatives.
- Explore career paths in behavioral economics, neuroscience, psychology, finance, and research.
Summer Springboard
Behavioral Economics: Decision-Making & Human Behavior
About This Course
Why do people make the choices they do? Behavioral Economics explores the fascinating intersection of the brain, behavior, and decision-making. In this course, students combine insights from neuroscience, psychology, and economics to understand what drives human choices.
Through interactive labs, discussions, and collaborative projects, participants gain a deeper understanding of behavior and the factors that influence decisions in everyday life. By the end of the program, students will have hands-on experience designing experiments, analyzing behavioral data, and seeing how neuroeconomics principles are applied in real-world contexts such as business, policy, and social initiatives.
TOPICS YOU'LL EXPLORE
Hands-on Learning
Engage in experiments that test decision-making under risk, social influence, and reward-based scenarios. Students design and conduct original behavioral experiments, analyze results, and present conclusions.
Career Exploration
Gain insight into careers in behavioral economics, neuroscience, psychology, finance, and policy. Students see how understanding human decision-making is applied in professional settings and explore paths for research, business, and social impact.
RESOURCES
Course Infosheet
Click here to view or download the printable infosheet for this course.
Program Catalog
Click here to request our catalog to learn more about our summer programs and courses.
Campus Page
Click here to view the website page for this campus and learn more.
“The program was everything I thought it would be. It’s an experience that will make you feel connected to other people and to the course itself. It makes you become more comfortable with who you are and the things that you’re passionate about. I really enjoyed everything about it.”
-Imani J. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Behavioral Economics: Decision-Making & Human Behavior
Meet Your Instructor
Michelle Lei is a Behavioral Scientist and researcher specializing in decision-making, behavioral economics, and applied behavioral design. Michelle has worked with healthcare and fintech organizations to design behaviorally informed products, develop decision frameworks, and build strategies that help people make better financial and health decisions.
In research settings, Michelle has collaborated with behavioral scientists, statisticians, and engineers to study how generative AI models make judgments compared with humans. Her work has explored when AI chatbots can meaningfully complement human decision-making—and when they may unintentionally amplify common human blind spots. Through designing behavioral experiments and testing generative AI models from multiple developers, Michelle’s research evaluates AI’s capabilities, limitations, and potential to complement human decision-making.
MICHELLE LEI
“Summer Springboard was an amazing experience and I am so glad I chose to do this program. It taught so much about what I want to pursue in my future.”
-Taliha B.| Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Behavioral Economics: Decision-Making & Human Behavior
Dates & Tuition
| 2026 Dates |
|---|
| Session 1: July 5 – July 17, 2026 |
Click here to enroll in this course using our online enrollment form.
| Tuition |
|---|
| Residential Tuition: $5,998 |
| Commuter Tuition: $3,298 |
Tuition Protection Plan: Allows for cancellation for any reason up until the day of the program.
| Location |
|---|
| City: New York City |
| State: New York |
| Campus: Barnard College |
Summer Springboard programs are not run by our campus partners (with the exception of Cal Poly and NYSID which are run in partnership with SSB). Universities and their affiliated departments and partners do not control and are not responsible or liable in any manner for any part of the Summer Springboard program.