Humans demonstrate an inherent bias towards making maladaptive decisions,as shown by a phenomenon known as the gambler’s fallacy (GF).The GF has been traditionally considered as a heuristic bias supported by the fast and automatic intuition system,which can be overcome by the reasoning system.In this talk,I will provide convergent evidence to support an intriguing hypothesis,based on emerging evidence from neuroscience research,that the cognitive system will contribute to the GF when being “hijacked” by a false world model regarding the outcome dependency,which can be rescued by the affective decision mechanisms.First,behavioral data from a large sample of college students suggests that individuals’ use of the GF strategy is positively correlated with their general intelligence and executive function,but negatively correlated with their affective decision making capacities.Second,strong brain responses in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) preceded the use of the GF strategy.Furthermore,anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left LPFC,which enhanced the LPFC function,increased the use of the GF strategy.Finally,the manipulation of agency in decision (self guess vs.computer guess),which changed the subjects’ world model regarding the outcome dependency,significantly modulated the decisions and the LPFC activation.Our results provide a novel insight into the mechanisms underlying the maladaptive decision.