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Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations

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Published on: September 16, 2015

Prior Information Shapes Perceptual Confidence.

Luca Tarasi¹, Margherita Covelli¹, Chiara Tabarelli de Fatis¹

¹Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universitàdi Bologna and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Universitàdi Bologna, Cesena, Italy.

Journal of Cognition

|January 17, 2025

Summary

Prior expectations significantly influence decision-making and confidence. This study shows how prior knowledge, not just sensory evidence, shapes our subjective confidence in perceptual decisions.

Keywords:

Metacognition Perceptual Confidence Perceptual decision-making Predictive coding Signal Detection Theory

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Decision Science

Background:

Decisional confidence, a subjective evaluation of decision accuracy, is influenced by sensory evidence and top-down factors like prior expectations.
While prior information affects decision parameters (reaction time, criteria), its precise impact on confidence ratings remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how manipulated prior expectations influence confidence judgments in a perceptual detection task.
To examine the interplay between prior knowledge, decision accuracy, and subjective confidence.

Main Methods:

Participants performed a perceptual detection task with manipulated prior probabilities (33%, 50%, 67%) for target presence.
Both type-1 (detection) and type-2 (confidence) responses were recorded for each trial.

Main Results:

Prior expectations modulated decision criteria but not sensory evidence processing (task sensitivity).
Prior expectations significantly influenced confidence ratings, moderated by congruency between prior, stimulus, and response.
Correct responses yielded higher confidence than incorrect ones, with low-probability priors enhancing confidence for correct choices.

Conclusions:

Perceptual decisions and confidence are shaped by both sensory evidence and prior expectations.
Prior knowledge actively modulates decision-making processes, influencing confidence beyond objective evidence strength.
Understanding these top-down influences is crucial for a comprehensive model of human perception and judgment.