What cognitive processes drive response biases? A diffusion model analysis
Journal Title: Judgment and Decision Making - Year 2011, Vol 6, Issue 7
Abstract
We used a diffusion model to examine the effects of response-bias manipulations on response time (RT) and accuracy data collected in two experiments involving a two-choice decision making task. We asked 18 subjects to respond “low” or “high” to the number of asterisks in a 10×10 grid, based on an experimenter-determined decision cutoff. In the model, evidence is accumulated until either a “low” or “high” decision criterion is reached, and this, in turn, initiates a response. We performed two experiments with four experimental conditions. In conditions 1 and 2, the decision cutoff between low and high judgments was fixed at 50. In condition 1, we manipulated the frequency with which low- and high-stimuli were presented. In condition 2, we used payoff structures that mimicked the frequency manipulation. We found that manipulating stimulus frequency resulted in a larger effect on RT and accuracy than did manipulating payoff structure. In the model, we found that manipulating stimulus frequency produced greater changes in the starting point of the evidence accumulation process than did manipulating payoff structure. In conditions 3 and 4, we set the decision cutoff at 40, 50, or 60 (Experiment 1) and at 45 or 55 (Experiment 2). In condition 3, there was an equal number of low- and high-stimuli, whereas in condition 4 there were unequal proportions of low- and high-stimuli. The model analyses showed that starting-point changes accounted for biases produced by changes in stimulus proportions, whereas evidence biases accounted for changes in the decision cutoff.
Authors and Affiliations
Fabio P. Leite and Roger Ratcliff
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP677851
- DOI -
- Views 116
- Downloads 0
Decisions under unpredictable losses: An examination of the restated diversification principle
An experimental test of the descriptive adequacy of the restated diversification principle is presented. The principle postulates that risk-averse utility maximizers will pool risks for their mutual benefit, even if info...
Facing expectations: Those that we prefer to fulfil and those that we disregard.
We argue that people choosing prosocial distribution of goods (e.g., in dictator games) make this choice because they do not want to disappoint their partner rather than because of a direct preference for the chosen pros...
Modeling and debiasing resource saving judgments
Svenson (2011) showed that choices of one of two alternative productivity increases to save production resources (e.g., man-months) were biased. Judgments of resource savings following a speed increase from a low product...
Cognitive reflection test and behavioral biases in Malaysia
We asked whether behavioral biases are related to cognitive abilities of Malaysian youth. Frederick’s three-item Cognitive Reflection Test was used to understand the role of behavioral biases concerning behavioral econom...
Selective information sampling: Cognitive coherence in evaluation of a novel item
This study investigates the amount and valence of information selected during single item evaluation. One hundred and thirty-five participants evaluated a cell phone by reading hypothetical customers reports. Some partic...