Computational mechanisms for context-based behavioral interventions: A large-scale analysis

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2022-04, Vol.119 (15), p.1-9
• Main Authors: Zhao, Wenjia Joyce, Coady, Aoife, Bhatia, Sudeep
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior modification; Computational neuroscience; Context; Decision analysis; Decision making; Decision theory; Nervous system; Psychology; Social Sciences
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2114914119

Choice context influences decision processes and is one of the primary determinants of what people choose. This insight has been used by academics and practitioners to study decision biases and to design behavioral interventions to influence and improve choices. We analyzed the effects of context-based behavioral interventions on the computational mechanisms underlying decision-making. We collected data from two large laboratory studies involving 19 prominent behavioral interventions, and we modeled the influence of each intervention using a leading computational model of choice in psychology and neuroscience. This allowed us to parametrize the biases induced by each intervention, to interpret these biases in terms of underlying decision mechanisms and their properties, to quantify similarities between interventions, and to predict how different interventions alter key choice outcomes. In doing so, we offer researchers and practitioners a theoretically principled approach to understanding and manipulating choice context in decision-making.