Abstract
In cognitive science there is a seeming paradox: On the one hand, studies of human judgment and decision making have repeatedly shown that people systematically violate optimal behavior when integrating information from multiple sources. On the other hand, optimal models, often Bayesian, have been successful at accounting for information integration in fields such as categorization, memory, and perception. This apparent conflict could be due, in part, to different materials and designs that lead to differences in the nature of processing. Stimuli that require controlled integration of information, such as the quantitative or linguistic information (commonly found in judgment studies), may lead to suboptimal performance. In contrast, perceptual stimuli may lend themselves to automatic processing, resulting in integration that is closer to optimal. We tested this hypothesis with an experiment in which participants categorized faces based on resemblance to a family patriarch. The amount of evidence contained in the top and bottom halves of each test face was independently manipulated. These data allow us to investigate a canonical example of sub-optimal information integration from the judgment and decision making literature, the dilution effect. Splitting the top and bottom halves of a face, a manipulation meant to encourage controlled integration of information, produced farther from optimal behavior and larger dilution effects. The Multi-component Information Accumulation model, a hybrid optimal/averaging model of information integration, successfully accounts for key accuracy, response time, and dilution effects.
Highlights
Information integration refers to the combination of different sources of information for the purpose of performing some task
The overarching goal of this research was to determine the processes involved in combining multiple sources of information
This research represents a synthesis of two divergent trends in the literature: perception, in which information integration is often assumed to be optimal, and judgment and decision making, in which integration is often assumed to rely on heuristics that produce systematic violations of optimality
Summary
Information integration refers to the combination of different sources of information for the purpose of performing some task. For instance, one can attend to both its visual and auditory components. As another example, to produce an accurate diagnosis, a doctor needs to consider the patient’s symptoms, family history, diet, and exercise habits. On its own, provides some predictive or diagnostic value, but integrating these sources will usually yield better performance. The manner in which these sources are integrated will determine the probability of success.
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