Dr. Sebastian Olschewski

About

I am Sebastian Olschewski, an academic working in the field of cognitive psychology and behavioral economics.
Currently, I am a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel's Center for Economic Psychology and an Honorary Research Fellow at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.

Born and raised in Duesseldorf, Germany, my educational path took me to the University of Tuebingen, where I studied Psychology, Economics, and Finance. I gained diverse cultural experiences through academic exchanges in the USA and China. I continued my education at the University of Basel, from which I obtained my PhD in Economic Psychology in 2018.
Here is my CV.

I welcome opportunities to share insights from my research on economic behavior and cognitive psychology at your institution or event. For a deeper dive, I can also conduct workshops covering experimental methods, statistics, and computational modeling (see my teaching). Please feel free to contact me.
Stay connected! Follow me on Twitter @Seb_Olschewski for the latest updates on my and related research.

Research

My research is committed to unpacking the mechanisms of economic behavior through experimental methods and computational cognitive modeling. From probing the cognitive processes of portfolio selection of individual investors to exploring sustainable choices amidst cognitive constraints, and the effects of personal experiences on managerial decision-making, my work seeks to bridge cognitive models with relevant economic decision problems.

In all my research I am committed to open science practices, transparency, and reproducibility. You can find all data I published on as well as analyses code in my publication list.

Current Projects (Selected)

Experiences and Financial Risks:

How do personal experiences of investment returns affect financial decision making?

Epistemic Uncertainty and Risk Taking:

How good are people adapted to cognitive limitations in information integration (noisy coding) when weighing up risks?

Allocation of Effort and Opportunity Costs:

Can people allocate their effort to make good decisions in the presence of opportunity costs?

Complex Decision Problems:

How does complexity affect decision strategies, choice consistency, response times, and preferences?

Uncertainty and Social Behavior:

How does learning and choosing under uncertainty unfold in social interactions?

Publications

Preprints

Sun, Y., Mason, A., & Olschewski, S. (2024). Compressed Representations and Attentional Competition in Numeric Integration for Average Estimations. PsyArXiv, Doi: 10.31234/osf.io/dnpmw
Priolo, G., Stablum, F., Vacondio, M., D'Ambrogio, S., Caserotti, M., … Olschewski, S., … Rubaltelli, E. (2023). The robustness of mental accounting: a global perspective. PsyArXiv, Doi: 10.31219/osf.io/apc26
Heinke, S., Olschewski, S., & Rieskamp, J. (2022). Experiences, Demand for Risky Investments and Implications for Price Dynamics. SSRN, Doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4279001
Olschewski, S., Mullett, T. L., & Stewart, N. (2022). Optimal allocation of time in risky choices under opportunity costs. PsyArXiv, Doi: 10.31234/osf.io/k7pye
Olschewski, S., Jakob, L., & Schmidt, U. (2020). Financing costs of state-owned enterprises: Evidence from EU firm level data. PsyArXiv, Doi: 10.31234/osf.io/nd2cw

Published Articles

Olschewski, S., Spektor, M. S., Le Mens, G. (2024). Frequent winners explain apparent skewness preferences in experience-based decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(12), e2317751121. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., & Scheibehenne, B. (2024). What’s in a sample? Epistemic uncertainty and metacognitive awareness in risk taking. Cognitive Psychology, 149, 101642. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Luckman, A., Mason, A., Ludvig, E., & Konstantinidis, E. (2024). The future of decisions from experience: Connecting real-world decision problems to cognitive processes. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 19(1), 82-102. Paper
Oberholzer, Y., Olschewski, S., & Scheibehenne, B. (2024). Complexity aversion in risky choices and valuations: Moderators and possible causes. Journal of Economic Psychology, 100, 102681. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Rieskamp, J., & Hertwig, R. (2023). The link between cognitive abilities and risk preference depends on measurement. Scientific Reports, 13, 21151. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Jakob, L., & Schmidt, U. (2023). Investor preferences for positive social externalities and state-owned enterprises' facilitated access to capital. Journal of Economic Psychology, 94, 102575. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Sirotkin, P., & Rieskamp, J. (2022). Empirical underidentification in estimating random utility models: The role of choice sets and standardizations. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 75(2), 252-292. Paper & Repository
Fleischhut, N., Artinger, F., Olschewski, S., & Hertwig, R. (2022). Not all uncertainty is treated equally: Search in social and nonsocial environments. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 35(2), e2250. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Diao, L., & Rieskamp, J. (2021). Reinforcement learning about asset variability and correlation in repeated portfolio decisions. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 32, 100559. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Newell, B. R., Oberholzer, Y., & Scheibehenne, B. (2021). Valuation and estimation from experience. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 34(5), 729-741. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., & Rieskamp, J. (2021). Distinguishing three effects of time pressure on risk taking: Choice consistency, risk preference, and strategy selection. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 34(4), 541-554. Paper & Repository
Hoffart, J. C., Olschewski, S., & Rieskamp, J. (2019). Reaching for the star ratings: A Bayesian inspired account of how people use consumer ratings. Journal of Economic Psychology, 72, 99-116. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Dietsch, M., & Ludvig, E. (2019). Anti-social motives explain risk aversion for others in decisions from experience. Judgment and Decision Making, 14(1), 58-71. Paper & Repository
Olschewski, S., Rieskamp, J., & Scheibehenne, B. (2018). Taxing cognitive capacities reduces choice consistency rather than preference: A model-based test. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(4), 462-484. Paper & Repository

General Audience Outreach

How comparison options affect stock buys (2024) Press article based on the publication ‘Frequent winners explain apparent skewness preferences in experience-based decisions’ for the University of Basel news: Read More
Why investors love state-owned enterprises? (2024) Press article based on the publication titled ‘Investor preferences for positive social externalities and state-owned enterprises' facilitated access to capital’. For the Warwick Business School research news section: Read More
Schürmann, O. & Olschewski, S. (2023) Aufstehen oder Snoozen? Entscheidungskompetenzen im Berufsalltag stärken. Journal BSO (Berufsverband für Coaching, Supervision und Organisationsberatung Schweiz), Volume 02-2023. Read More

Teaching

I am excited to give workshops on experimental methods (stimulus design, control groups, open science), applied statistics (frequentist & Bayesian), and computational modeling (Bayesian updating, drift diffusion, reinforcement learning, random utility, and cumulative prospect theory).

If you are interested in writing a Master thesis in the fields of behavioral/experimental economics, decision-making, cognitive psychology, or computational modeling with me, please contact me.

Past Teaching

Workshop on estimating drift diffusion models with hierarchical Bayesian estimation techniques for PhDs and postdocs (University of Geneva).

(Co-) Supervision of Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. students (University of Basel, Warwick Business School, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology).

Project seminar on experimental research methods for Bachelor students (University of Basel).

Seminar on introduction to statistics with R for Master students (University of Basel).

Seminar on fairness and other social preferences for Master students (University of Basel).

Seminar on cognitive modeling: concepts and applications for Master and PhD students (University of Basel).

Seminar on consumer behavior (Distance University Switzerland).

Tutor for advanced macroeconomics (University of Tuebingen).

Risk

Experience

Strategy

Using cognitive models to understand economic behavior

About

Research

Current Projects (Selected)

Publications

Preprints

Published Articles

General Audience Outreach

Teaching

Past Teaching

Contact

Email

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Twitter

OSF

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About

Research

Current Projects (Selected)

Publications

Preprints

Published Articles

General Audience Outreach

Teaching

Past Teaching

Hobbies

Fine Art

Sport

Literature

Travel

Contact

Email

LinkedIn

Twitter

OSF

Google Scholar