Repository logo
 

Humans actively sample evidence to support prior beliefs.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Change log

Authors

Sepulveda, Pradyumna  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0159-6777
Folke, Tomas 
De Martino, Benedetto  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3555-2732

Abstract

No one likes to be wrong. Previous research has shown that participants may underweight information incompatible with previous choices, a phenomenon called confirmation bias. In this paper, we argue that a similar bias exists in the way information is actively sought. We investigate how choice influences information gathering using a perceptual choice task and find that participants sample more information from a previously chosen alternative. Furthermore, the higher the confidence in the initial choice, the more biased information sampling becomes. As a consequence, when faced with the possibility of revising an earlier decision, participants are more likely to stick with their original choice, even when incorrect. Critically, we show that agency controls this phenomenon. The effect disappears in a fixed sampling condition where presentation of evidence is controlled by the experimenter, suggesting that the way in which confirmatory evidence is acquired critically impacts the decision process. These results suggest active information acquisition plays a critical role in the propagation of strongly held beliefs over time.

Description

Keywords

Research Article, Neuroscience, decision-making, confirmation bias, information sampling, Human

Journal Title

Elife

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2050-084X
2050-084X

Volume Title

11

Publisher

eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (Henry Dale Fellowship)
Royal Society (Henry Dale Fellowship)
Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (Scholarship)