Does allowing for changes of mind influence initial responses?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Computational neuroscience
• Decision science

Background:

• Evidence accumulation models (EAMs) are key for understanding rapid decision-making.
• Model mimicry in predictions challenges comparisons between distinct EAM variants.
• Double responses offer a method to reduce model mimicry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate explicit double responding paradigms for decision-making research.
• To assess if allowing response changes influences initial decision parameters.
• To determine if explicit double responding generalizes to standard paradigms.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted using explicit double responding paradigms.
• Diffusion model parameters were used to measure initial decision strategies.
• Bayesian analyses were employed to evaluate the evidence for or against null hypotheses.

Main Results:

• Allowing participants to change their response did not significantly alter initial decision parameters across experiments.
• Bayesian analyses provided moderate evidence supporting the null hypothesis (no difference) in all cases.
• Initial response strategies remained consistent regardless of explicit permission to change.

Conclusions:

• Explicit double responding paradigms are validated for use in decision-making research.
• These paradigms do not interfere with the natural process of initial response selection.
• Findings support the generalizability of explicit double responding to standard decision-making tasks.