Filling the gaps: Cognitive control as a critical lens for understanding mechanisms of value-based decision-making

Frömer, Romy; Shenhav, Amitai

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.006

Cited by 40 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 280 publications

(357 reference statements)

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“…The ability to weigh expected rewards and costs is critical for optimal decision-making (Frömer & Shenhav, 2021;Lopez-Gamundi et al, 2021;Westbrook et al, 2020). For instance, many everyday activities such as exercising (Harris & Bray, 2021) and helping others (Lockwood et al, 2017) involve physical effort.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex represents subjective value across effort-based and risky decision-making

Yao¹,

Song²,

Li³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Decisions that require taking prospective effort costs into account are ubiquitous in real life. The common currency theory hypothesizes that a neural network integrates different costs and rewards into a common scale to facilitate value comparison. Although there has been a surge of interest in the computational and neural basis of effort-reward integration, it is still under debate if the common currency theory could be applied to value integration in this context. Here, we comprehensively compared effort-based and risky decision-making using computational modeling, univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses, and data from two independent studies. We found that prospective outcomes were distinctively discounted by effort and risk. Moreover, although univariate fMRI analyses showed diverse results between tasks, multivariate decoding analyses indicated that the neural patterns of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) represented subjective value information across effort-based and risky decision-making. These findings suggest that the dmPFC plays a critical role in computing subjective value in a task-independent manner and thus extend the scope of the common currency theory.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex represents subjective value across effort-based and risky decision-making

Yao¹,

Song²,

Li³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…This renders moot any neural predictions that would theoretically follow from such an adaptive control account, and may explain why Vassena and colleagues were unable to find evidence that bore out these neural predictions. It remains to be determined whether previous adaptive control accounts can quantitatively account for patterns of dACC activity observed in this study, but at a qualitative level those patterns can be accounted for by any theory that implicates the dACC in monitoring for potential conflict (low value differences) and surprise (high value differences), including EVC 1,8,19,37,38 . Substantial progress has been made toward uncovering the neural and computational mechanisms at the intersection of value-based decision-making and cognitive control.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Decision scientists have grown increasingly interested in how we control our decisionmaking 1,21,22 . Building off of research into adaptive control mechanisms in other forms of cognitive tasks [23][24][25] , studies have shown that such decision parameters can be shaped by variables such as temporal urgency 4 and choice conflict 2,11,12 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent years have seen a growing interest in the intersections between value-based decision-making and cognitive control 1 , providing researchers with fresh new insights into how people decide how to decide. These lines of research have demonstrated that decision-making is not a purely stimulus-driven process – one in which evidence accumulates based entirely on the values of one’s options – but, rather, that evidence accumulation is subject to adaptive and online control.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Phantom controllers: Misspecified models create the false appearance of adaptive control during value-based choice

Ritz

Frömer

Shenhav

2023

Preprint

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Decision scientists have grown increasingly interested in how people adaptively control their decision making. Researchers have demonstrated that parameters governing the accumulation of evidence towards a choice, such as the decision threshold, are shaped by information available prior to or in parallel with one's evaluation of an option set (e.g., recent outcomes or choice conflict). A recent account has taken a bold leap forward in this approach, suggesting that adjustments in decision parameters can be motivated by the value of the options under consideration. This motivated control account predicts that when faced with difficult choices (similarly valued options) under time pressure, people will adaptively lower their decision threshold to ensure that they make a choice in time. This account was supported by drift diffusion modeling of a deadlined choice task, demonstrating that decision thresholds decrease for difficult relative to easy choices. Here, we reanalyze the data from this experiment, and show that evidence for this novel account does not hold up to further scrutiny. Using a more systematic and comprehensive modeling approach, we show that this previously observed threshold adjustment disappears (or even reverses) under a more complete model of the data. Importantly, we further show how this and other apparent evidence for motivated control arises as an artifact of model (mis)specification, where one model's putatively controlled decision process (e.g., value-driven threshold adjustments) can mimic another model's stimulus-driven decision processes (e.g., accumulator competition or collapsing bounds). Collectively, this work reveals crucial insights and constraints in the pursuit of understanding how control guides decision-making, and when it doesn't.

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“…Finally, our results support the TRA in the field of tourism by showing that some cognitive perceptions affect attitudes and behaviours, and even more, by showing how some of these responses vary from country to country. This line follows the most recent complementary approach: how cognitive control research has informed the understanding of decision-making (Frömer and Shenhav, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Country image effects after the Brexit crisis. A cross-cultural comparison

Jericó

Rodríguez-Santos²,

Vila‐López³

et al. 2022

CBTH

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Purpose In the context of Brexit, this study aims to analyse whether the worsening of the UK’s image might have triggered: worse feelings towards the tourism workers and a decrease in the final intention to travel to the UK. This paper compares responses from high and low-context tourists to identify at which target the reactions are more intense. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses were formulated in a general model based on the theory of reasoned action applied to Country Image in the tourism sector, comparing the model in high (150 responses) versus low-context (406 responses) scenarios. Structural equation modelling methodology was used. Findings The intention to travel to the UK worsens when two out of the three dimensions of country image worsen (aesthetical and functional) and also when feelings towards workers in this country worsen. Related to cross-cultural differences, the main effect on feelings towards workers comes from the normative dimension of the UK’s image, together with the aesthetic perception. Moreover, travellers’ intentions are influenced by functional and aesthetic perceptions of the country as well as feelings towards workers. High-context cultures showed a significantly stronger effect of the aesthetic dimension of the country on feelings towards workers. Originality/value This paper tries to advance the understanding of how feelings towards employees in the UK can determine future visits to this destination. In addition, some cultural differences may explain why low-context cultures are more affected by the worsening of the UK’s image after Brexit.

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Filling the gaps: Cognitive control as a critical lens for understanding mechanisms of value-based decision-making

Cited by 40 publications

References 280 publications

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex represents subjective value across effort-based and risky decision-making

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex represents subjective value across effort-based and risky decision-making

Phantom controllers: Misspecified models create the false appearance of adaptive control during value-based choice

Country image effects after the Brexit crisis. A cross-cultural comparison

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