Temple University · PsychologySmith Decision Lab
David Victor Smith · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Research Focus
Dr. David Victor Smith leads a research lab at Temple University focused on understanding how social and cognitive factors influence financial decision-making in older adults, particularly those at risk for Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias. The lab investigates how brain activity related to social rewards and finance differs across ages and cognitive states, with the goal of identifying vulnerable individuals who might be at risk for financial exploitation. Ultimately, this research seeks to improve protective measures for older adults against financial fraud.
financial exploitationsocial decision makingAlzheimer's Diseaseneuroimagingcognitive declineage differencesreward processinghealth assessmentneural responses
Research Aims
4AIM 01Examine how neural responses to social and nonsocial rewards and decisions based on trust and fairness differ across the lifespan.
AIM 02Investigate how neural responses are related to cognitive decline, socioemotional functioning, and health factors like vascular health.
AIM 03Re-test participants with mild cognitive impairment after two years to assess changes in social reward processing and risk for financial exploitation.
AIM 04Characterize risk factors for financial exploitation among vulnerable populations.
Skills the Lab Values
neuroimagingneuropsychological assessmentsocial network analysisstatistical analysisexperimental designquestionnaire developmentdata collectionparticipant recruitmentsocioemotional functioning assessment
Output against the department
Publications20bottom 2% of dept.289th of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations23bottom 1% of dept.294th of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.