Model-based fMRI reveals dissimilarity processes underlying base rate neglect

Abstract
Data availability
Article and author information
Metrics

Abstract

Extensive evidence suggests that people use base rate information inconsistently in decision making. A classic example is the inverse base rate effect (IBRE), whereby participants classify ambiguous stimuli sharing features of both common and rare categories as members of the rare category. Computational models of the IBRE have either posited that it arises from associative similarity-based mechanisms or dissimilarity-based processes that may depend upon higher-level inference. Here we develop a hybrid model, which posits that similarity- and dissimilarity-based evidence both contribute to the IBRE, and test it using functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected from human subjects completing an IBRE task. Consistent with our model, multivoxel pattern analysis reveals that activation patterns on ambiguous test trials contain information consistent with dissimilarity-based processing. Further, trial-by-trial activation in left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex tracks model-based predictions for dissimilarity-based processing, consistent with theories positing a role for higher-level symbolic processing in the IBRE.

Data availability

Source data and scripts used to create all figures and tables (e.g., R code, PyMVPA scripts, statistical maps for the model-based fMRI analysis) are posted to a publicly available online repository (Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/atbz7/). Raw fMRI data for the study organized according to Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) guidelines are available at https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds001302.

Article and author information

Author details

Sean R O'Bryan

Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, United States

For correspondence
sean.r.obryan@ttu.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0562-8211
Darrell A Worthy

Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Evan J Livesey

School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Tyler Davis

Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

Texas Tech University

Tyler Davis

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Human subjects: Subjects provided written informed consent before taking part in the study, and all procedures involving human subjects were approved by the Texas Tech University Institutional Review Board.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.