Unpacking decision difficulty: Testing action dynamics in Intertemporal, gamble, and consumer choices

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Decision Science
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Decision difficulty is a key construct in understanding choice behavior.
• Previous models of decision difficulty have not fully captured its dynamic nature.
• Understanding factors influencing decision difficulty is crucial for predicting choices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the two-factor structure of decision difficulty (conflict and wavering) in new domains.
• To investigate the role of numeracy in decision difficulty.
• To explore how contextual changes affect decision difficulty.

Main Methods:

• Utilized mouse (cursor) movement dynamics to measure temporal and spatial decision-making data.
• Employed decision tasks in intertemporal, gamble, and consumer choice domains.
• Manipulated task features such as payoff sign, attribute similarity, and attribute importance.

Main Results:

• Identified three orthogonal components of action-dynamics, with conflict and wavering reflecting decision difficulty.
• Conflict was sensitive to payoff sign (losses increased conflict).
• Wavering was sensitive to attribute similarity (higher similarity increased wavering).
• Numeracy was negatively associated with the conflict component.

Conclusions:

• Decision difficulty is multifaceted and context-dependent.
• Action-dynamic measures effectively capture different aspects of decision difficulty.
• Numeracy plays a role in mitigating decision conflict.