The interplay between preference and external information in value-based decisions

Colic, Isabella 2024. The interplay between preference and external information in value-based decisions. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

Preview	PDF (Thesis) - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (3MB) | Preview
	PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Download (1MB)

Abstract

The present thesis investigates the characteristics of preference-based, reward-based, and perceptual decisions and examines their interplay across a variety of decisional contexts. First, we systematically review how value-based decisions are studied in experiments using either magnetoencephalography (MEG) or electroencephalography (EEG) and we provide the overarching theoretical framework of the dissertation by dividing value-based decisions in externally-guided (i.e., reward-based) and internally-guided (i.e., preference-based) ones. The paradigms used in the extant literature are further classified to provide a common nomenclature and a guide for future research. We then shift our focus to examine whether there is an interaction between preferential choices and the surface size of a food item, showing that the perceptual and value-based domain are dissociated from each other at the behavioural level. Following this, the potential interactions between externally-guided and internally-guided decisions are tested across three online experiments, which robustly show that participants are biased by irrelevant information (specifically, preference-related information) when tasked to choose between options associated with different probability rewards, indicating an interaction between the two decisional domains. These findings are then extended with an MEG experiment. Finally, we present fMRI findings on multi-attribute preferential decisions where sets of options include both multiple items at once as well as incongruent information. The results point towards an engagement of the multi-demands network and provide support to the conceptualisation of decision-making as a flexible and integrative process. In conclusion, this diverse set of experimental and reviewed findings provide a contribution towards a deeper understanding of decisional mechanisms at the behavioural and neural level.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 March 2025
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2025 15:11
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176845

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item