Neuroscientific evidence for contextual effects in decision making
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Updated: May 3, 2026

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
Published on: September 10, 2018
1Brain Research Unit, O.V. Lounasmaa Laboratory, Aalto University School of Science, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland. kaisa.hytonen@aalto.fi.
Abstract:
Both internal and external states can cause inconsistencies in decision behavior. I present examples from behavioral decision-making literature and review neuroscientific knowledge on two contextual influences: framing effects and social conformity. The brain mechanisms underlying these behavioral adjustments comply with the dual-process account and simple learning mechanisms, and are weak indicators for unintentionality in decision-making processes.
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