A neuropsychological investigation of decisional certainty

NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA

卷:70

Article

Scherer, Aaron M.¹  Taber-Thomas, Bradley C.^2,4  Tranel, Daniel^3,4 

[1] Univ Michigan, Ctr Bioeth & Social Sci Med, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA

[2] Penn State Univ, Dept Psychol, University Pk, PA 16802 USA

[3] Univ Iowa, Dept Psychol, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA

[4] Univ Iowa, Dept Neurol, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA

关键词: Selective exposure;    Information seeking;    Overconfidence;    Decisiveness;    Ventromedial prefrontal cortex;    Brain damage;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.02.036

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The certainty that one feels following a decision increases decision-making efficiency, but can also result in decreased decision accuracy. In the current study, a neuropsychological approach was used to examine the impact of damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) on core psychological processes promoting decision certainty: selective exposure, overconfidence, and decisiveness. Given previous research demonstrating that vmPFC damage disrupts the generation of negative emotional (somatic) states that have been associated with selective exposure and overconfidence, it was hypothesized that damage to the vmPFC would disrupt engagement in selective exposure, decrease overconfidence, and increase indecision. Individuals with vmPFC damage exhibited increased indecision, but contrary to our hypothesis, engaged in similar levels of selective exposure and overconfidence as the comparison groups. These results indicate that indecision may be an important psychological mechanism involved in decision-making impairments associated with vmPFC injury. The results also suggest that the vmPFC may not be critical for selective exposure or overconfidence, which provides support for a recent desirability account of selective exposure. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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