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Assessing behavioural profiles following neutral, positive and negative feedback.
Rimsa Dahal1, Kelsey MacLellan1, Danielle Vavrek1
1University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Plos One
|July 5, 2022
Summary
Draws in decision-making tasks are perceived negatively, not neutrally. This study reveals that outcomes like draws trigger behavioral responses similar to losses, impacting performance and choices.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroeconomics
- Decision Science
Background:
- Previous research indicates that neutral outcomes, such as draws, are often subjectively perceived with negative valence.
- Behavioral indicators like faster reaction times, shift behavior, and reduced flexibility following draws align with responses to explicitly negative outcomes (losses).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the subjective valence and behavioral consequences of neutral outcomes (draws) compared to explicitly positive and negative outcomes.
- To examine how manipulating the perceived value of draws influences decision-making behavior.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted manipulating the assigned value of outcomes (neutral, positive, negative) for draws, wins, and losses.
- Behavioral measures included reaction times, choice behavior (stay vs. shift), and performance deviations from optimal strategies.
Main Results:
- When draws were valued at 0, behavior showed some similarities to losses (speeded reaction times).
- Increasing draw value to +1 improved performance and approximated optimal behavior, while a value of -1 significantly increased shift behavior.
- Value manipulations on win/loss trials did not produce similar behavioral modifications, isolating the effect to draw outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Draws are not processed as valence-free neutral outcomes but elicit complex behavioral profiles.
- The subjective experience and cognitive processing of draws incorporate elements typically associated with both negative and positive outcomes, depending on context and perceived value.
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