Dr Sudeep Bhatia, Computational Behavioural Science Lab, University of Pennsylvania

Process and Content in Decisions from Memory
Information stored in memory influences the formation of preferences and beliefs in most everyday decision tasks. The richness of this information, and the complexity inherent in interacting memory and decision processes, makes the quantitative model-driven analysis of such decisions very difficult. In this paper we present a general framework that is capable of addressing the theoretical and methodological barriers to building formal models of naturalistic memory-based decision making. Our framework implements established theories of memory search and decision making within a single integrated cognitive system, and uses computational language models to quantify the thoughts over which memory and decision processes operate. It can thus describe both the content of the information that is sampled from memory, as well as the processes involved in retrieving and evaluating this information in order to make a decision. Furthermore, our framework is tractable, and the parameters that characterize memory-based decisions can be recovered using thought-listing and choice data from existing experimental tasks, and in turn be used to make quantitative predictions regarding choice probability, length of deliberation, retrieved thoughts, and the effects of decision context. We showcase the power and generality of our framework by applying it to study risk perception, consumer behavior, financial decision making, ethical decision making, legal decision making, food choice, and judgments about well-being, society and culture. Preprint available at https://psyarxiv.com/nwxs2.

Host: Dr Lukasz Walasek

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