Abstract
Economists often model choices as if decision-makers assign each option a scalar value variable, known as utility, and then select the option with the highest utility. It remains unclear whether as-if utility models describe real mental and neural steps in choice. Although choices alone cannot prove the existence of a utility stage, utility transformations are often taken to provide the most parsimonious or psychologically plausible explanation for choice data. Here, we show that it is possible to mathematically transform a large set of common utility-stage two-option choice models (specifically ones in which dimensions are can be decomposed into additive functions) into a heuristic model (specifically, a dimensional prioritization heuristic) that has no utility computation stage. We then show that under a range of plausible assumptions, both classes of model predict similar neural responses. These results highlight the difficulties in using neuroeconomic data to infer the existence of a value stage in choice.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 105 |
Journal | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | APR |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015 Piantadosi and Hayden.
Keywords
- Decision making
- Dimensional prioritization
- Heuristics
- Utility
- Value comparison
- Value correlate