-
Neuron May 2022Logistic regressions were developed in economics to model individual choice behavior. In recent years, they have become an important tool in decision neuroscience. Here,... (Review)
Review
Logistic regressions were developed in economics to model individual choice behavior. In recent years, they have become an important tool in decision neuroscience. Here, I describe and discuss different logistic models, emphasizing the underlying assumptions and possible interpretations. Logistic models may be used to quantify a variety of behavioral traits, including the relative subjective value of different goods, the choice accuracy, risk attitudes, and choice biases. More complex logistic models can be used for choices between good bundles, in cases of nonlinear value functions, and for choices between multiple options. Finally, logistic models can quantify the explanatory power of neuronal activity on choices, thus providing a valid alternative to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Decision Making; Neurons; Neurosciences
PubMed: 35334232
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.03.002 -
Psychological Science Nov 2011Despite centuries of speculation about how to manage negative emotions, little is actually known about which emotion-regulation strategies people choose to use when... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Despite centuries of speculation about how to manage negative emotions, little is actually known about which emotion-regulation strategies people choose to use when confronted with negative situations of varying intensity. On the basis of a new process conception of emotion regulation, we hypothesized that in low-intensity negative situations, people would show a relative preference to choose to regulate emotions by engagement reappraisal, which allows emotional processing. However, we expected people in high-intensity negative situations to show a relative preference to choose to regulate emotions by disengagement distraction, which blocks emotional processing at an early stage before it gathers force. In three experiments, we created emotional contexts that varied in intensity, using either emotional pictures (Experiments 1 and 2) or unpredictable electric stimulation (Experiment 3). In response to these emotional contexts, participants chose between using either reappraisal or distraction as an emotion-regulation strategy. Results in all experiments supported our hypothesis. This pattern in the choice of emotion-regulation strategies has important implications for the understanding of healthy adaptation.
Topics: Adult; Choice Behavior; Electric Stimulation; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Psychological Tests; Young Adult
PubMed: 21960251
DOI: 10.1177/0956797611418350 -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Jan 2018Pseudocontingencies are inferences about correlations in the environment that are formed on the basis of statistical regularities like skewed base rates or varying base...
Pseudocontingencies are inferences about correlations in the environment that are formed on the basis of statistical regularities like skewed base rates or varying base rates across environmental contexts. Previous research has demonstrated that pseudocontingencies provide a pervasive mechanism of inductive inference in numerous social judgment tasks (Fiedler, Freytag, & Meiser, 2009). The present research extended the analysis of pseudocontingencies from social judgment to actual choice behavior in a decision scenario of personal relevance. In 4 experiments, participants were first exposed to a learning environment in which choice options were presented together with positive or negative outcomes. The base rates of options and outcomes were skewed and varied across different contexts. After the learning phase, participants chose between options on the basis of the previously learned outcome probabilities and were rewarded in accordance with their individual performance. The results revealed that participants inferred a pseudocontingency between options and outcomes and followed the pseudocontingency in their decision behavior (Experiments 1-4). The observed pseudocontingency was stronger in a context with predominantly positive outcomes and replicated with different learning distributions. Pseudocontingency effects were related to interindividual differences in risk aversion and moderated by ease of base rate learning (Experiment 2) and processing time (Experiment 4), whereas the salience of rare events with extreme outcomes did not affect choice behavior (Experiment 3). The findings underline the role of pseudocontingencies in choice behavior as a subjectively cogent tool for decision making in complex probabilistic environments. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Adult; Choice Behavior; Humans; Individuality; Probability Learning; Psychomotor Performance; Risk-Taking; Thinking; Young Adult
PubMed: 28569527
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000432 -
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior Nov 2015Individuals with cocaine use disorder chronically self-administer cocaine to the detriment of other rewarding activities, a phenomenon best modeled in laboratory... (Review)
Review
Individuals with cocaine use disorder chronically self-administer cocaine to the detriment of other rewarding activities, a phenomenon best modeled in laboratory drug-choice procedures. These procedures can evaluate the reinforcing effects of drugs versus comparably valuable alternatives under multiple behavioral arrangements and schedules of reinforcement. However, assessing drug-choice in treatment-seeking or abstaining humans poses unique challenges: for ethical reasons, these populations typically cannot receive active drugs during research studies. Researchers have thus needed to rely on alternative approaches that approximate drug-choice behavior or assess more general forms of decision-making, but whether these alternatives have relevance to real-world drug-taking that can inform clinical trials is not well-understood. In this mini-review, we (A) summarize several important modulatory variables that influence cocaine choice in nonhuman animals and non-treatment seeking humans; (B) discuss some of the ethical considerations that could arise if treatment-seekers are enrolled in drug-choice studies; (C) consider the efficacy of alternative procedures, including non-drug-related decision-making and 'simulated' drug-choice (a choice is made, but no drug is administered) to approximate drug choice; and (D) suggest opportunities for new translational work to bridge the current divide between preclinical and clinical research.
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Cocaine; Cocaine-Related Disorders; Delay Discounting; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Patient Acceptance of Health Care
PubMed: 26432174
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2015.09.020 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Oct 2022The context-dependent nature of choice is well illustrated by decoy effects, in which adding an alternative to a choice set can change the preference relations among the...
The context-dependent nature of choice is well illustrated by decoy effects, in which adding an alternative to a choice set can change the preference relations among the other alternatives. The current within-subjects study tested whether manipulating cognitive load affects the magnitude of attraction and compromise decoy effects. Participants (n = 96) made simulated online grocery shopping choices from three options described by price and quality for each grocery item they encountered. On half the 96 trials, they had to memorize a telephone number prior to encountering the choice set, after which they recalled the number. The choice task was rated significantly more difficult under load, providing some face validity for the load manipulation. Across decoy types, context effects were large and unaffected by the load manipulation. Bayesian analysis provided substantial evidence in favor of this null effect, with the study powered at better than .95 to detect a moderate effect. Across individuals, the magnitude of decoy effects was positively correlated with perception of the greater difficulty of the task under load, with this relationship fully mediated by increases in response times. These results are consistent with the idea that compromise and attraction decoy effects can operate relatively automatically and require minimal effortful processing.
Topics: Bayes Theorem; Choice Behavior; Cognition; Humans; Reaction Time; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 35618941
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02113-0 -
Integrative Physiological and... 2001Conditional discriminative choice tasks can be arranged such that all correct choices yield the same reinforcer or such that each type of correct choice has its own... (Review)
Review
Conditional discriminative choice tasks can be arranged such that all correct choices yield the same reinforcer or such that each type of correct choice has its own unique reinforcer. The former is the traditional "Common Outcomes" Procedure; the latter is the "Differential Outcomes" Procedure. Use of this Differential Outcomes Procedure facilitates the rate of learning, increases the asymptotic level of performance, and enhances working-memory based performances in both animals and humans. These facts have stimulated many questions and experiments about learning and memory mechanisms and fostered potential applications.
Topics: Animals; Avoidance Learning; Choice Behavior; Cues; Discrimination Learning; Discrimination, Psychological; Humans
PubMed: 11777013
DOI: 10.1007/BF02734091 -
Psychological Research Jan 2018Performance decrements in multitasking have been explained by limitations in cognitive capacity, either modelled as static structural bottlenecks or as the scarcity of...
Performance decrements in multitasking have been explained by limitations in cognitive capacity, either modelled as static structural bottlenecks or as the scarcity of overall cognitive resources that prevent humans, or at least restrict them, from processing two tasks at the same time. However, recent research has shown that individual differences, flexible resource allocation, and prioritization of tasks cannot be fully explained by these accounts. We argue that understanding human multitasking as a choice and examining multitasking performance from the perspective of judgment and decision-making (JDM), may complement current dual-task theories. We outline two prominent theories from the area of JDM, namely Simple Heuristics and the Decision Field Theory, and adapt these theories to multitasking research. Here, we explain how computational modelling techniques and decision-making parameters used in JDM may provide a benefit to understanding multitasking costs and argue that these techniques and parameters have the potential to predict multitasking behavior in general, and also individual differences in behavior. Finally, we present the one-reason choice metaphor to explain a flexible use of limited capacity as well as changes in serial and parallel task processing. Based on this newly combined approach, we outline a concrete interdisciplinary future research program that we think will help to further develop multitasking research.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Decision Making; Humans; Individuality; Multitasking Behavior; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 29086021
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0938-7 -
Current Biology : CB May 2007
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Female; Male; Selection, Genetic; Sex Factors; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 17470341
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.02.002 -
Experimental Psychology Nov 2021Delay discounting tasks present alternatives that differ in two attributes: and . Typically, choice is modeled by application of a to each option, allowing...
Delay discounting tasks present alternatives that differ in two attributes: and . Typically, choice is modeled by application of a to each option, allowing alternative-wise comparison. However, if participants make decisions by comparing attributes, manipulations that affect the salience of either attribute may affect patience. In Experiment 1, participants completed one block of trials in which amount was a (constant across trials), and another in which delay was fixed. Consistent with the hypothesis that the varying attribute would be more salient, participants exhibited less patience in the amount-fixed condition. Moreover, this effect was larger for participants who responded more quickly when making choices that favored the varying attribute. In Experiment 2, these findings were extended by adding trial blocks with a working memory dual task. We replicated the fixed-attribute effect, along with the aforementioned association with reaction time. Contrary to expectation, the fixed-attribute effect was not larger when participants were under working memory load. Instead, working memory load was associated with more patient responses, which may be related to idiosyncrasies of the task including the absence of immediate rewards. Overall, results suggest a fixed-attribute effect on patience, which is consistent with a multi-attribute decision framework.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Delay Discounting; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Reaction Time; Reward
PubMed: 35258360
DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000535 -
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of... Jan 2016Pigeons and other animals sometimes deviate from optimal choice behavior when given informative signals for delayed outcomes. For example, when pigeons are given a... (Review)
Review
Pigeons and other animals sometimes deviate from optimal choice behavior when given informative signals for delayed outcomes. For example, when pigeons are given a choice between an alternative that always leads to food after a delay and an alternative that leads to food only half of the time after a delay, preference changes dramatically depending on whether the stimuli during the delays are correlated with (signal) the outcomes or not. With signaled outcomes, pigeons show a much greater preference for the suboptimal alternative than with unsignaled outcomes. Key variables and research findings related to this phenomenon are reviewed, including the effects of durations of the choice and delay periods, probability of reinforcement, and gaps in the signal. We interpret the available evidence as reflecting a preference induced by signals for good news in a context of uncertainty. Other explanations are briefly summarized and compared.
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Columbidae; Delay Discounting; Psychological Trauma; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward; Time Factors
PubMed: 26781050
DOI: 10.1002/jeab.192