The value of a third potential option or distractor can alter the way in which decisions are made between two other options. Two hypotheses have received empirical support: that a high value distractor improves the accuracy with which decisions between two other options are made and that it impairs accuracy. Recently, however, it has been argued that neither observation is replicable. Inspired by neuroimaging data showing that high value distractors have different impacts on prefrontal and parietal regions, we designed a dual route decision-making model that mimics the neural signals of these regions. Here we show in the dual route model and empirical data that both enhancement and impairment effects are robust phenomena but predominate in different parts of the decision space defined by the options’ and the distractor’s values. However, beyond these constraints, both effects co-exist under similar conditions. Moreover, both effects are robust and observable in six experiments.

中文翻译：

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决策过程中干扰因素效应的一致模式


第三个潜在选项或干扰因素的价值可以改变在其他两个选项之间做出决策的方式。有两个假设得到了实证支持：高价值干扰因素可以提高在其他两个选项之间做出决策的准确性，但会降低准确性。然而，最近有人认为这两种观察结果都不可复制。神经影像数据显示高价值干扰因素对前额叶和顶叶区域有不同的影响，受到启发，我们设计了一个双路线决策模型来模仿这些区域的神经信号。在这里，我们在双路径模型和经验数据中表明，增强效应和减值效应都是稳健的现象，但在由选项和干扰项值定义的决策空间的不同部分中占主导地位。然而，除了这些限制之外，两种效应在相似的条件下同时存在。此外，这两种效应都是稳健的，并且在六次实验中都可以观察到。