Predictions and rewards affect decision-making but not subjective experience

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Decision science

Background:

• Decision-making integrates sensory input with factors like reward expectations (payoff matrix) and temporal regularities (cognitive priors).
• It remains unclear if these factors influence subjective experience or merely shift response criteria.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate between perceptual and nonperceptual influences on subjective experience and decision criteria.
• To investigate how visual illusions, payoff structures, and base rate changes affect subjective experience.

Main Methods:

• Utilized three matched manipulations: Müller-Lyer visual illusion, a punishment scheme (payoff condition), and base rate changes.
• Introduced a novel task requiring participants to make decisions and reproduce their sensory experience.
• Employed Bayesian ordinal modeling and drift-diffusion modeling (DDM) for analysis.

Main Results:

• All three manipulations shifted decision criteria as intended.
• The visual illusion uniquely altered subjective sensory experience, as evidenced by reproduction tasks.
• DDM parameter profiles differed for the visual illusion compared to nonperceptual manipulations, but DDM alone was insufficient for classification.

Conclusions:

• Distinguishing perceptual from nonperceptual influences on decision-making requires careful consideration beyond behavioral shifts alone.
• Subjective experience can be modulated by factors beyond immediate sensory input, with visual illusions having a distinct impact on perception.