Abstract
The goal of deliberation is to separate between options so that we can commit to one and leave the other behind. However, deliberation can, paradoxically, also form an association in memory between the chosen and unchosen options. Here, we consider this possibility and examine its consequences for how outcomes affect not only the value of the options we chose, but also, by association, the value of options we did not choose. In five experiments (total n = 612), including a preregistered experiment (n = 235), we found that the value assigned to unchosen options is inversely related to their chosen counterparts. Moreover, this inverse relationship was associated with participants’ memory of the pairs they chose between. Our findings suggest that deciding between options does not end the competition between them. Deliberation binds choice options together in memory such that the learned value of one can affect the inferred value of the other.
Highlights
The goal of deliberation is to separate between options so that we can commit to one and leave the other behind
We estimated a posterior distribution for regression coefficients and reported the median and 95% highest density interval (HDI) for coefficients of interest
We focused on performance in the Final Decisions phase, allowing us to determine both direct outcome learning for chosen options as well as inferences about the value of the unchosen options
Summary
The goal of deliberation is to separate between options so that we can commit to one and leave the other behind. If the location you ended up choosing did not meet your expectations, this would lead you to devalue the choice you made[10] Often in such situations, we find ourselves automatically thinking back to the unchosen option, which we may evaluate as a better option than it seemed at the time. Extensive memory research has shown that shared context creates an association between disparate elements, binding them to each other in memory[14,15,16,17] These findings suggest that rather than ‘cutting off’ the unchosen option, deliberation may, paradoxically, tie the options together. In these situations, is the value of the unchosen options updated as well?
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