Week 6 Lec 12: Context
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Describe the study by Iyengar & Lepper (2000) showing the effect of set size on behaviour.
Set up tasting booth for jams near the entrance of a busy grocery store (small selection vs large selection) Larger set attracted more visitors but people who stopped in front of the small set were 10x more likely to buy a jar of jam
What are some other examples of choice set size effects?
Lotteries, purchasing goods, taking loans, retirement plans
Can you name the psychological explanation for the aversive effects of set size from different domains?
People dislike effort; more choice = more effort - Size dependent search cost: cost in terms of time or effort required scanning the set - Longer time and/or increased cognitive effort is associated with a certain level of disutility - Cost benefit tradeoff in choice People dislike being wrong; more choice = more errors possible
Can you name the economic explanation for the aversive effects of set size from different domains?
Increased similarity between alternatives decreases ability to detect the marginal advantage of each option, making it harder to discriminate between options
Can you name the neurobiological explanation for the aversive effects of set size from different domains?
Neuronal coding limitations may reduce choice discriminability
Which axiom of rational choice theories is violated by the decoy effect?
Independence of irrelevant alternatives (adding same probability of third option to both choices doesnt change ordering of preferences)
What is the attraction effect/asymmetric dominance?
A decoy that is inferior in all respects to one option but superior in only one aspect to another option will increase selection of the fully dominating option
Give an example of the decoy effect.
Between a Tesla and a Prius, adding a Volt which is inferior to Prius in 2 dimensions and inferior to Tesla in only one dimension will shift preference towards the Prius Alternative example: The decoy is asymmetrically dominated by the Tesla, which is better on both dimensions
Can you describe a context effect from the domain of marketing actions and explain how it alters brain responses?
Plassmann (2008) assessed marketing actions and subjective utility and found that people claimed to prefer more expensive wine when it was the same wine vmPFC and mOFC activity reflected price dependent value signals in the brain
Can you name and describe the three neurobiological limitations of neurons that contribute to the neurobiological basis of context-dependency?
• Non-negative (rectified): Firing rates are non-negative (input-output functions cannot represent parameters below a certain level) • Refractory periods (recharge): Biophysical limitation; neurons need to recharge and cannot exceed firing rate • Metabolically costly Minimum and max firing rates limit the dynamic range of spiking activity, which limits the range of inputs that can be encoded
What is the rate coding hypothesis?
Average activity (firing rate) is the primary info carrying characteristic of a neural spike train
Can you describe the basic ideas behind the efficient coding hypothesis and range adaption?
Efficient coding hypothesis states that changes in firing rate code for change in behavioural parameter range adaptation (normalization) states that the range of neural firing rates should match the range of values in the decision environment Assumptions of range adaptation - Range of neural firing rate is constant across different behavioural value conditions - Account for the local spread of values (delta V), assign the minimum to lowest firing rate, highest to maximum