Diaz, J.A., Pisauro, M.A., Delis, I. orcid.org/0000-0001-8940-5036 et al. (1 more author) (2024) Prior probability biases perceptual choices by modulating the accumulation rate, rather than the baseline, of decision evidence. Imaging Neuroscience, 2. pp. 1-19. ISSN 2837-6056
Abstract
The prior probability of an upcoming stimulus has been shown to influence the formation of perceptual decisions. Computationally, these effects have typically been attributed to changes in the starting point (i.e., baseline) of evidence accumulation in sequential sampling models. More recently, it has also been proposed that prior probability might additionally lead to changes in the rate of evidence accumulation. Here, we introduce a neurally-informed behavioural modelling approach to understand whether prior probability influences the starting point, the rate of evidence accumulation or both. To this end, we employ a well-established visual object categorisation task for which two neural components underpinning participants’ choices have been characterised using single-trial analysis of the electroencephalogram. These components are reliable measures of trial-by-trial variability in the quality of the relevant decision evidence, which we use to constrain the estimation of a hierarchical drift diffusion model of perceptual choice. We find that, unlike previous computational accounts, constraining the model with the endogenous variability in the relevant decision evidence results in prior probability effects being explained primarily by changes in the rate of evidence accumulation rather than changes in the starting point or a combination of both. Ultimately, our neurally-informed modelling approach helps disambiguate the mechanistic effect of prior probability on perceptual decision formation, suggesting that prior probability biases primarily the interpretation of sensory evidence towards the most likely stimulus.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. |
Keywords: | prior probability, decision making, electroencephalography, hierarchical drift diffusion model, neurally-informed modeling |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biomedical Sciences (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union 845884 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Dec 2024 10:37 |
Last Modified: | 04 Dec 2024 10:37 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MIT Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1162/imag_a_00338 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:220417 |