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Experiential values are underweighted in decisions involving symbolic options

Author

Listed:
  • Basile Garcia

    (Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives Computationnelles, Département d’Etudes Cognitives, ENS, PSL, INSERM)

  • Maël Lebreton

    (Paris School of Economics
    University of Geneva)

  • Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde

    (Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’Etudes Cognitives, ENS, EHESS, PSL, CNRS
    Assas CRED – Université Panthéon-Assas - Paris 2)

  • Stefano Palminteri

    (Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives Computationnelles, Département d’Etudes Cognitives, ENS, PSL, INSERM)

Abstract

Standard models of decision-making assume each option is associated with subjective value, regardless of whether this value is inferred from experience (experiential) or explicitly instructed probabilistic outcomes (symbolic). In this study, we present results that challenge the assumption of unified representation of experiential and symbolic value. Across nine experiments, we presented participants with hybrid decisions between experiential and symbolic options. Participants’ choices exhibited a pattern consistent with a systematic neglect of the experiential values. This normatively irrational decision strategy held after accounting for alternative explanations, and persisted even when it bore an economic cost. Overall, our results demonstrate that experiential and symbolic values are not symmetrically considered in hybrid decisions, suggesting they recruit different representational systems that may be assigned different priority levels in the decision process. These findings challenge the dominant models commonly used in value-based decision-making research.

Suggested Citation

  • Basile Garcia & Maël Lebreton & Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde & Stefano Palminteri, 2023. "Experiential values are underweighted in decisions involving symbolic options," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(4), pages 611-626, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:7:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1038_s41562-022-01496-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01496-3
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