Clarifying the role of an unavailable distractor in human multiattribute choice
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Clarifying the role of an unavailable distractor in human multiattribute choice. / Cao, Yinan; Tsetsos, Konstantinos.
In: ELIFE, Vol. 11, e83316, 06.12.2022.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Clarifying the role of an unavailable distractor in human multiattribute choice
AU - Cao, Yinan
AU - Tsetsos, Konstantinos
PY - 2022/12/6
Y1 - 2022/12/6
N2 - Decisions between two economic goods can be swayed by a third unavailable 'decoy' alternative, which does not compete for choice, notoriously violating the principles of rational choice theory. Although decoy effects typically depend on the decoy's position in a multiattribute choice space, recent studies using risky prospects (i.e., varying in reward and probability) reported a novel 'positive' decoy effect operating on a single value dimension: the higher the 'expected value' (EV) of an unavailable (distractor) prospect was, the easier the discrimination between two available target prospects became, especially when their expected-value difference was small. Here, we show that this unidimensional distractor effect affords alternative interpretations: it occurred because the distractor's EV covaried positively with the subjective utility difference between the two targets. Looking beyond this covariation, we report a modest 'negative' distractor effect operating on subjective utility, as well as classic multiattribute decoy effects. A normatively meaningful model (selective integration), in which subjective utilities are shaped by intra-attribute information distortion, reproduces the multiattribute decoy effects, and as an epiphenomenon, the negative unidimensional distractor effect. These findings clarify the modulatory role of an unavailable distracting option, shedding fresh light on the mechanisms that govern multiattribute decisions.
AB - Decisions between two economic goods can be swayed by a third unavailable 'decoy' alternative, which does not compete for choice, notoriously violating the principles of rational choice theory. Although decoy effects typically depend on the decoy's position in a multiattribute choice space, recent studies using risky prospects (i.e., varying in reward and probability) reported a novel 'positive' decoy effect operating on a single value dimension: the higher the 'expected value' (EV) of an unavailable (distractor) prospect was, the easier the discrimination between two available target prospects became, especially when their expected-value difference was small. Here, we show that this unidimensional distractor effect affords alternative interpretations: it occurred because the distractor's EV covaried positively with the subjective utility difference between the two targets. Looking beyond this covariation, we report a modest 'negative' distractor effect operating on subjective utility, as well as classic multiattribute decoy effects. A normatively meaningful model (selective integration), in which subjective utilities are shaped by intra-attribute information distortion, reproduces the multiattribute decoy effects, and as an epiphenomenon, the negative unidimensional distractor effect. These findings clarify the modulatory role of an unavailable distracting option, shedding fresh light on the mechanisms that govern multiattribute decisions.
U2 - 10.7554/eLife.83316
DO - 10.7554/eLife.83316
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
VL - 11
JO - ELIFE
JF - ELIFE
SN - 2050-084X
M1 - e83316
ER -