Contextual Influences on Value-based Choice

Abstract

Biases in choice behavior are shaped by both immediately encountered cues as well as the background context in which these cues are embedded. Here we examine the mechanisms that underlie the integration of contextual and cue information, and the manner in which these sources of information shape behavior. We demonstrate contextual influence on choice dissociated from cue information using a value-based multi-alternative choice task while recording neural activity using electroencephalography. Consistent with work on negativity biases, we show that contextual attributes related to loss, reflected along central-parietal sites in the gamma (30-59 Hz) frequency range, are prioritized and drive behavior to prevent loss. We employ a multi-alternative sequential sampling computational model to show that contextual and cue information are integrated through the decision process to shape choice responses, and link this integrative process to a neural signature in the gamma frequency band.