Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2025
08:24
The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
779
Information acquisition and decision strategies in intertemporal choice
Lisheng He1, Daniel Wall2, Crystal Reeck3
1SILC Business School, Shanghai University, China.
Cognitive Psychology
|March 30, 2023
Summary
This study links information processing to intertemporal choice models by analyzing decision-making data. Attention processes were found to predict which choice models best fit individual behavior.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroeconomics
- Decision science
Background:
- Intertemporal decision models predict choices but assume information processing.
- A mechanistic account requires linking information acquisition to choice predictions.
- Current models lack a clear connection between how people gather information and their choices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a link between information processing and intertemporal choice model predictions.
- To investigate how attention influences decision-making in delayed reward scenarios.
- To develop a more complete mechanistic understanding of intertemporal decision making.
Main Methods:
- Fitted 18 intertemporal choice models to experimental data including choice and information acquisition.
- Analyzed correlations between different choice model fits based on information processing assumptions.
- Developed and applied an attention model to information acquisition data.
Main Results:
- Intertemporal choice models showed highly correlated fits, grouping by information processing assumptions.
- Attention model parameters successfully predicted the best-fitting intertemporal choice model for participants.
- Demonstrated a relationship between attentional processes and intertemporal choice behavior.
Conclusions:
- Attentional processes are integral to understanding intertemporal choice behavior.
- Linking information acquisition to choice models provides a more mechanistic account of decision making.
- This research offers a foundation for more comprehensive models of economic decision making.
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