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

研究背景理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的决定和选择的认知机制。例如，对信心判断的研究揭示了导致一些人即使被证明是错误的，也无法改变想法的个体间差异。然而，令人惊讶的是，几乎没有先前的研究使用受控的实验室条件来调查个人反省其行为原因的能力，以及在他们做出选择时发现哪些因素会影响他们。然而，自省失败会对自主性产生重大影响。人们可能会体验到一种虚幻的控制感和独立感，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。初步结果表明，人们在反驳别人的建议时，误以为反对是自由的，会有一种越来越强烈的超然感和自由感。这种“叛逆的刺激”效应，让人想起一些青少年的行为或一些政治激进运动，有效地混淆了逆势与独立。这种认知偏见，如果不加以识别，可能会被滥用为控制个人行为的工具，引发重要的社会和道德问题。因此，关于人们如何反省自己选择的原因的基础科学研究是必不可少的。目的和目标本项目调查人们如何以及在多大程度上能够反思他们决策的起源。它依赖于研究两种衡量标准之间的关系(i)我们的行为对外部事件的客观依赖，以及（ii）我们的主观经验，即我们的行为是否依赖于这些事件，或者，也就是说，反映了我们的自由。这些问题是通过对照实验实验室研究和健康成人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：为了确定人们是否能够准确地识别他们的决定的原因，当几个潜在的影响来源存在，并确定这一过程的神经动力学。2 .衡量被试在不受外界影响的情况下，自愿沉默内隐和外显建议并做出选择的能力。确定情感价值和奖励如何调节从影响中分离的能力，并调查从激励中自愿分离的神经相关性。用可控的实验方法来量化人们主观感觉拥有选择自由的价值。“自由”几乎是一个普遍流行的口号，也是一个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，研究人类对自己选择的起源进行内省的认知机制，以及在一个人的决定和行动中自由的主观感觉。了解这些基本机制将是对认知心理学、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定，而人们往往没有意识到这种操纵。因此，该项目应吸引更广泛社会中几个部门的兴趣，特别是消费者行为和传播专家。我们计划向政策团体传播和合作，以最大限度地发挥研究思想的积极社会影响。我们的目标是将我们的发现转化为数字经济，例如通过认知训练项目，旨在增强对影响个人选择因素的检测，从而保护自主权。

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.