Freedom of choice in decision-making: Introspecting the cause of our actions

决策选择的自由：反思我们行为的原因

• 批准号: ES/V00378X/1
• 负责人: Lucie Charles
• 金额: $ 58.79万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FV00378X%2F1
• 关键词: Freedom; choice; decision; making; Introspecting

Context of the researchUnderstanding the causes of human behaviour is the defining aim of scientific psychology. Only recently however, psychologists have begun to investigate the cognitive mechanisms by which people evaluate their own decisions and choices. For example, studies on confidence judgments have shed light on the inter-individual differences leading some people to fail to change their minds, even when proven wrong. Surprisingly however, almost no previous research has used controlled laboratory conditions to investigate individuals' ability to introspect the cause of their actions and to detect which factors influence them when they are making a choice. Failures of introspection however have major implications for autonomy. People may experience an illusory sense of control and independence even when their decisions are in fact manipulated. Our recent research has started to reveal the existence of such illusions. Preliminary results showed that people experience an increased sense of detachment and freedom when they contradict suggestions, mistaking opposition for being free. This "thrill of rebellion" effect, reminiscent of some teenage behaviours or some political radicalization movements, effectively confuses being contrarian with being independent. Such cognitive bias, if not identified as such, could potentially be misused as tools to control individual behaviour, raising important societal and ethical issues. Basic scientific research on how people introspect the reasons for their choices is thus essential. Aims and objectivesThis project investigates how, and to what extent, people are able to introspect the origins of their decisions. It relies on studying the relation between two measures (i) the objective dependence of our actions on external events, and (ii) our subjective experience of whether our actions depend on those events, or, alternatively, reflect our freedom from them. These questions are addressed through controlled experimental laboratory studies and neuroimaging of healthy adult volunteers. This general aim is achieved through four specific objectives:1. To determine whether people can accurately identify the reason for their decision when several potential sources of influence are present, and to determine the neural dynamics of this process.2. To measure subjects' ability to voluntarily silence implicit and explicit suggestions and make choices free from external influence.3. To determine how affective value and reward modulate the ability to detach from influence, and to investigate the neural correlates of voluntary detachment from incentives.4. To quantify using controlled experimental measures, the value that people attribute to their subjective feeling of having freedom of choice. Potential applications and benefits"Liberty" is a near-universal popular cry, and a concept with enormous power to drive human action. This project delivers the first systematic laboratory investigation into the cognitive mechanisms underlying humans' introspection of the origin of their choices and the subjective feeling of being free in one's decisions and actions. Understanding these basic mechanisms would represent a major research contribution to cognitive psychology, social psychology, social policy and economics. There are important implications for society: new media offer powerful tools to influence individual decisions, often without people being aware of such manipulation. Therefore, the project should capture the interest of several sectors within wider society, particularly consumer behaviour and communication specialists. We plan to disseminate to and collaborate with policy groups to maximize positive societal impact of the research ideas. We will aim to translate our findings to the digital economy, e.g. through cognitive training programs aiming to enhance detection of factors influencing individual choice, and thus protect autonomy.

研究背景了解人类行为的原因是科学心理学的明确目标。然而，直到最近，心理学家才开始研究人们评估自己决策和选择的认知机制。例如，关于自信判断的研究揭示了导致一些人即使在被证明是错误的情况下也无法改变主意的个体差异。然而，令人惊讶的是，之前几乎没有研究使用受控实验室条件来调查个人反思其行为原因的能力，以及在他们做出选择时检测哪些因素影响他们的能力。然而，自省的失败对自主性有重大影响。人们可能会体验到一种虚幻的控制感和独立性，即使他们的决定实际上是被操纵的。我们最近的研究已经开始揭示这种错觉的存在。初步结果显示，当人们与建议相矛盾时，他们会体验到更多的超然感和自由感，误以为反对就是自由。这种“反叛的快感”让人联想到一些青少年行为或一些政治激进主义运动，实际上将逆向操作与独立混淆了。这种认知偏差，如果没有被确认为这样，可能会被滥用为控制个人行为的工具，引发重要的社会和伦理问题。因此，关于人们如何反思他们做出选择的原因的基础科学研究是至关重要的。目的和目标这个项目调查了人们如何以及在多大程度上能够反思他们决策的起源。它依赖于研究两个衡量标准之间的关系：(I)我们的行动对外部事件的客观依赖，以及(Ii)我们的行动是否依赖于这些事件的主观体验，或者相反，反映我们对这些事件的自由。这些问题是通过对照实验研究和健康成年志愿者的神经成像来解决的。这一总体目标是通过四个具体目标来实现的：1.确定当存在几个潜在的影响源时，人们是否能够准确地识别他们做出决定的原因，并确定这一过程的神经动力学。测量被试自愿沉默内隐和外显建议并在不受外部影响的情况下做出选择的能力。确定情感价值和奖励如何调节脱离影响的能力，并调查自愿脱离激励的神经关联。使用受控实验方法来量化，是指人们对拥有选择自由的主观感受所赋予的价值。潜在的应用和好处“自由”几乎是一种普遍的呼声，是一个具有推动人类行动的巨大力量的概念。这个项目提供了第一个系统的实验室调查，对人类反思其选择的来源以及在决定和行动中自由的主观感觉背后的认知机制进行了研究。了解这些基本机制将是认知心理学、社会心理学、社会政策和经济学的重大研究贡献。这对社会有重要的影响：新媒体提供了强大的工具来影响个人的决策，而人们往往没有意识到这种操纵。因此，该项目应该引起更广泛社会中几个部门的兴趣，特别是消费者行为和沟通专家。我们计划向政策团体传播并与之合作，以最大限度地发挥研究想法的积极社会影响。我们将致力于将我们的发现转化为数字经济，例如通过认知培训计划，旨在加强对影响个人选择的因素的检测，从而保护自主权。

项目成果

Mistaking opposition for autonomy: psychophysical studies on detecting choice bias

将反对误认为自主：检测选择偏见的心理物理学研究

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1785
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Biological Sciences
• 作者: Kummen Å

Exposure to misleading and unreliable information reduces active information-seeking

接触误导性和不可靠的信息会减少积极的信息寻求

• DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/4zkxw
• 发表时间: 2023
• 作者: Jiwa M