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Hu M, Chang R, Sui X, Gao M. Attention biases the process of risky decision-making: Evidence from eye-tracking. Psych J 2024; 13:157-165. [PMID: 38155408 PMCID: PMC10990817 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Attention determines what kind of option information is processed during risky choices owing to the limitation of visual attention. This paper reviews research on the relationship between higher-complexity risky decision-making and attention as illustrated by eye-tracking to explain the process of risky decision-making by the effect of attention. We demonstrate this process from three stages: the pre-phase guidance of options on attention, the process of attention being biased, and the impact of attention on final risk preference. We conclude that exogenous information can capture attention directly to salient options, thereby altering evidence accumulation. In particular, for multi-attribute risky decision-making, attentional advantages increase the weight of specific attributes, thus biasing risk preference in different directions. We highlight the significance of understanding how people use available information to weigh risks from an information-processing perspective via process data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengchen Hu
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Collaborative Innovation Center of Children and Adolescents Healthy Personality Assessment and CultivationLiaoning Normal UniversityDalianChina
| | - Ruosong Chang
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Collaborative Innovation Center of Children and Adolescents Healthy Personality Assessment and CultivationLiaoning Normal UniversityDalianChina
| | - Xue Sui
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Collaborative Innovation Center of Children and Adolescents Healthy Personality Assessment and CultivationLiaoning Normal UniversityDalianChina
| | - Min Gao
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Collaborative Innovation Center of Children and Adolescents Healthy Personality Assessment and CultivationLiaoning Normal UniversityDalianChina
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2
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Lupkin SM, McGinty VB. Monkeys exhibit human-like gaze biases in economic decisions. eLife 2023; 12:e78205. [PMID: 37497784 PMCID: PMC10465126 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In economic decision-making individuals choose between items based on their perceived value. For both humans and nonhuman primates, these decisions are often carried out while shifting gaze between the available options. Recent studies in humans suggest that these shifts in gaze actively influence choice, manifesting as a bias in favor of the items that are viewed first, viewed last, or viewed for the overall longest duration in a given trial. This suggests a mechanism that links gaze behavior to the neural computations underlying value-based choices. In order to identify this mechanism, it is first necessary to develop and validate a suitable animal model of this behavior. To this end, we have created a novel value-based choice task for macaque monkeys that captures the essential features of the human paradigms in which gaze biases have been observed. Using this task, we identified gaze biases in the monkeys that were both qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those in humans. In addition, the monkeys' gaze biases were well-explained using a sequential sampling model framework previously used to describe gaze biases in humans-the first time this framework has been used to assess value-based decision mechanisms in nonhuman primates. Together, these findings suggest a common mechanism that can explain gaze-related choice biases across species, and open the way for mechanistic studies to identify the neural origins of this behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira M Lupkin
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers UniversityNewarkUnited States
- Behavioral and Neural Sciences Graduate Program, Rutgers UniversityNewarkUnited States
| | - Vincent B McGinty
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers UniversityNewarkUnited States
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3
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He L, Bhatia S. Complex economic decisions from simple neurocognitive processes: the role of interactive attention. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221593. [PMID: 36750198 PMCID: PMC9904951 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurocognitive theories of value-based choice propose that people additively accumulate choice attributes when making decisions. These theories cannot explain the emergence of complex multiplicative preferences such as those assumed by prospect theory and other economic models. We investigate an interactive attention mechanism, according to which attention to attributes (like payoffs) depends on other attributes (like probabilities) attended to previously. We formalize this mechanism using a Markov attention model combined with an accumulator decision process, and test our model on eye-tracking and mouse-tracking data in risky choice. Our tests show that interactive attention is necessary to make good choices, that most participants display interactive attention and that allowing for interactive attention in accumulation-based decision models improves their predictions. By equipping established decision models with sophisticated attentional dynamics, we extend these models to describe complex economic choice, and in the process, we unify two prominent theoretical approaches to studying value-based decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisheng He
- SILC Business School, Shanghai University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Sudeep Bhatia
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Wei ZH, Li QY, Liang CJ, Liu HZ. Cognitive process underlying ultimatum game: An eye-tracking study from a dual-system perspective. Front Psychol 2022; 13:937366. [PMID: 36237663 PMCID: PMC9552838 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
According to the dual-system theories, the decisions in an ultimatum game (UG) are governed by the automatic System 1 and the controlled System 2. The former drives the preference for fairness, whereas the latter drives the self-interest motive. However, the association between the contributions of the two systems in UG and the cognitive process needs more direct evidence. In the present study, we used the process dissociation procedure to estimate the contributions of the two systems and recorded participants eye movements to examine the cognitive processes underlying UG decisions. Results showed that the estimated contributions of the two systems are uncorrelated and that they demonstrate a dissociated pattern of associations with third variables, such as reaction time (RT) and mean fixation duration (MFD). Furthermore, the relative time advantage (RTA) and the transitions between the two payoffs can predict the final UG decisions. Our findings provide evidence for the independent contributions of preference for fairness (System 1) and self-interest maximizing (System 2) inclinations to UG and shed light on the underlying processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Han Wei
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Qiu-Yue Li
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Ci-Juan Liang
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Hong-Zhi Liu
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
- Laboratory of Behavioral Economics and Policy Simulation, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
- *Correspondence: Hong-Zhi Liu
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Molter F, Thomas AW, Huettel SA, Heekeren HR, Mohr PNC. Gaze-dependent evidence accumulation predicts multi-alternative risky choice behaviour. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010283. [PMID: 35793388 PMCID: PMC9292127 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Choices are influenced by gaze allocation during deliberation, so that fixating an alternative longer leads to increased probability of choosing it. Gaze-dependent evidence accumulation provides a parsimonious account of choices, response times and gaze-behaviour in many simple decision scenarios. Here, we test whether this framework can also predict more complex context-dependent patterns of choice in a three-alternative risky choice task, where choices and eye movements were subject to attraction and compromise effects. Choices were best described by a gaze-dependent evidence accumulation model, where subjective values of alternatives are discounted while not fixated. Finally, we performed a systematic search over a large model space, allowing us to evaluate the relative contribution of different forms of gaze-dependence and additional mechanisms previously not considered by gaze-dependent accumulation models. Gaze-dependence remained the most important mechanism, but participants with strong attraction effects employed an additional similarity-dependent inhibition mechanism found in other models of multi-alternative multi-attribute choice. Faced with different choice alternatives, such as food options or risky prospects, our decisions and allocation of gaze (that is where we look) are closely linked, such that items that are looked at longer are often more likely to be chosen. In simple decisions (e.g., choosing between two chocolate bars), these decisions and their associations with gaze allocation are well described by computational models that assume accumulation of evidence in favour of each alternative over time and discounting of momentarily unattended information. However, an important question is whether this class of models can also describe choice behaviour in more complex settings. Specifically, so-called context effects, where preferences between two alternatives can vary with the addition of a third alternative, challenge many models of simple decision making. Our study addresses this question by evaluating gaze-dependent evidence accumulation models in a setting where choices between two risky lotteries are systematically influenced by a third alternative. We find gaze-dependent models to be able to describe context effects because decision-makers‘ gaze allocation also varies with different sets of alternatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Molter
- School of Business & Economics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Armin W. Thomas
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Scott A. Huettel
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Department for Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Hauke R. Heekeren
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department for Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter N. C. Mohr
- School of Business & Economics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, Germany
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Liu HZ, Wei ZH, Li P. Influence of the Manner of Information Presentation on Risky Choice. Front Psychol 2021; 12:650206. [PMID: 34759853 PMCID: PMC8573322 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.650206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We are constantly faced with decisive situations in which the options are not presented simultaneously. How the information of options is presented might influence the subsequent decision-making. For instance, presenting the information of options in an alternative- or dimension-wise manner may affect searching patterns and thus lead to different choices. In this study, the effects of this manner of information presentation on risky choice according to two experiments (Experiment 1, N = 45; Experiment 2, N = 50) are systematically examined. Specifically, two tasks with different presentation are conducted. Participants could search the information of one option (alternative-wise task) or dimension (dimension-wise task) for each time. Results revealed that the participants assigned in the alternative-wise task exhibited more choices consistent with expected value theory and took a longer decision time than those in the dimension-wise task. Moreover, the effect of task on choice was mediated by the direction of information search. These findings suggest a relationship between information search pattern and risky choice and allow for a better understanding of the mechanisms and processes involved in risky choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Zhi Liu
- Computational Social Science Laboratory, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.,Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Zi-Han Wei
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.,Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin, China
| | - Peng Li
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Wang Y, Liu Y. Can longer gaze duration determine risky investment decisions? An interactive perspective. J Eye Mov Res 2021; 14. [PMID: 34733446 PMCID: PMC8562223 DOI: 10.16910/jemr.14.4.3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Can longer gaze duration determine risky investment decisions? Recent studies have tested
how gaze influences people's decisions and the boundary of the gaze effect. The current
experiment used adaptive gaze-contingent manipulation by adding a self-determined option
to test whether longer gaze duration can determine risky investment decisions. The results
showed that both the expected value of each option and the gaze duration influenced
people's decisions. This result was consistent with the attentional diffusion model (aDDM)
proposed by Krajbich et al. (2010), which suggests that gaze can influence the choice process
by amplify the value of the choice. Therefore, the gaze duration would influence the
decision when people do not have clear preference.The result also showed that the similarity
between options and the computational difficulty would also influence the gaze effect.
This result was inconsistent with prior research that used option similarities to represent
difficulty, suggesting that both similarity between options and computational difficulty induce
different underlying mechanisms of decision difficulty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiheng Wang
- Institute of Applied Psychology, Guangdong University Finance, China
| | - Yanping Liu
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, China
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Visual attention and time preference reversals. JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING 2021. [DOI: 10.1017/s1930297500008068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
AbstractTime preference reversal refers to systematic inconsistencies between preferences and bids for intertemporal options. From the two eye-tracking studies (N1 = 60, N2 = 110), we examined the underlying mechanisms of time preference reversal. We replicated the reversal effect in which individuals facing a pair of intertemporal options choose the smaller-sooner option but assign a higher value to the larger-later one. Results revealed that the mean fixation duration and the proportion of gaze time on the outcome attribute varied across the choice and bid tasks. In addition, time preference reversals correlated with individual differences in maximizing tendencies. Findings support the contingent weighting hypothesis and strategy compatibility hypothesis and allow for improved theoretical understanding of the potential mechanisms and processes involved in time preference reversals.
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Liu H, Lyu X, Wei Z, Mo W, Luo J, Su X. Exploiting the dynamics of eye gaze to bias intertemporal choice. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/bdm.2219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hong‐Zhi Liu
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government Nankai University Tianjin China
| | - Xiao‐Kang Lyu
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government Nankai University Tianjin China
| | - Zi‐Han Wei
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology Tianjin Normal University Tianjin China
| | - Wan‐Li Mo
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government Nankai University Tianjin China
| | - Jiong‐Rui Luo
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government Nankai University Tianjin China
| | - Xiao‐Yu Su
- Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government Nankai University Tianjin China
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Liu HZ, Zhou YB, Wei ZH, Jiang CM. The power of last fixation: Biasing simple choices by gaze-contingent manipulation. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2020; 208:103106. [PMID: 32512321 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2020] [Revised: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Among the established findings in eye movement during decision-making, decision-makers are likely to choose the last fixated option, and this phenomenon has proven robust. However, the causal link between last fixation and choices requires further examination. In Study 1 (N = 40), a gaze-contingent manipulation paradigm was developed by controlling the timing of decision prompts to manipulate the last fixation. The results showed that participants' value-based choices were biased toward the last fixated option. However, the manipulation in Study 1 may disturb their decision process, leading to an unnatural decision environment. In Study 2 (N = 40), the gaze-contingent paradigm was further developed to manipulate the last fixation by directing an additional fixation on the target option after the participants' decision prompts. The results showed that participants' choices were also biased in the uninterrupted decisions. Our findings suggest a causal link between last fixation and value-based choices.
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