The neurocognitive process of preference-based decisions

Ozkan, Aysegul 2023. The neurocognitive process of preference-based decisions. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis focused on three aspects of human preference-based decisions. First, integrating multiple sources of value information had an impact on behavioural performance and the underlying cognitive process. During preference-based judgments, humans combine multiple information sources into a single source of evidence, and behavioural changes are related to the quality of evidence. Second, to investigate psychophysical performance (sensitivity and bias) based on internal value and external perception information, a categorization task was conducted with value information embedded into geometric shapes. As measured by Weber ratio, attaching internal values to geometric shapes resulted in less discriminating sensitivity than perceptual judgements, and there was no difference in the response bias between the two types of decisions. Hence, these findings showed that a single computational process may underlie both value-based and perceptual decisions, and that transferring internal preference onto external perceptual input generates additional noise to the decision-making process. Third, this thesis investigated the MEG signatures of internal value-based decisions as well as their differences from perceptual decisions. Instead of geometrical shapes, internal value information embedded into spatial locations and binary choice task was conducted using the identical visual stimuli in both the internal preference and external perception context. Multivariate patten analysis on source space MEG data showed that more extended visual and frontoparietal activations are sensitive to value differences in value-based decisions. These results provide a foundation for further integrating perceptual and preference-based decisionmaking into a single framework. Overall, findings presented in this thesis contributes to the study of value-based decision-making by integrating novel experimental approaches, cognitive modelling, and electrophysiological investigations of the human brain.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 June 2023
Last Modified:	15 Jun 2023 09:35
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160384

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