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Updated: Jul 17, 2025
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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
757
Single-trial visually evoked potentials predict both individual choice and market outcomes
John P Veillette1, Shannon L M Heald2, Benjamin Wittenbrink2
1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637, USA. johnv@uchicago.edu.
Scientific Reports
|September 1, 2023
Summary
Neural activity predicts individual choices, but a distinct subset predicts aggregate behavior. This suggests sensory systems play a key role in decision-making consistency across populations.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- A core assumption in behavioral science is that individual behavior predicts population behavior.
- Cognitive neuroscience is exploring the dissociation between neural activity predicting individual vs. aggregate behavior.
- Individual differences in decision-making are gaining recognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between neural activity during decision-making and both individual and aggregate behavioral outcomes.
- To determine if neural signals predicting individual choices also predict population-level behavior.
- To explore the role of early sensory processing in choice consistency.
Main Methods:
- Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of electroencephalography (EEG) data.
- Analysis of single-trial visually evoked EEG activity.
- Comparison of neural predictors for individual choices versus aggregate market behavior.
Main Results:
- Visually evoked EEG activity predicts individual choices across the post-stimulus period.
- A sparser set of neural activity predicts aggregate population behavior.
- Neural activity predicting individual choices does not always align with aggregate behavior predictors.
Conclusions:
- A subset of neural activity underlying individual decision-making can predict behavioral consistency across a population.
- Early perceptual neural responses may reinforce choice consistency.
- Sensory systems play a significant role in value-based decision-making and population-level choice patterns.
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