Using psychophysics to ask if the brain samples or maximizes | Zendy

Daniel E. Acuña | Zendy; Max Berniker | Zendy; Hugo L. Fernandes | Zendy; Konrad P. Körding | Zendy

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Using psychophysics to ask if the brain samples or maximizes

Author(s) -

Daniel E. Acuña,

Max Berniker,

Hugo L. Fernandes,

Konrad P. Körding

Publication year - 2015

Publication title -

journal of vision

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.126

H-Index - 113

ISSN - 1534-7362

DOI - 10.1167/15.3.7

Subject(s) - psychophysics , two alternative forced choice , ask price , a priori and a posteriori , psychometric function , task (project management) , just noticeable difference , sensory system , psychology , artificial intelligence , cognitive psychology , perception , computer science , neuroscience , philosophy , economy , management , epistemology , economics

The two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) task is the workhorse of psychophysics and is used to measure the just-noticeable difference, generally assumed to accurately quantify sensory precision. However, this assumption is not true for all mechanisms of decision making. Here we derive the behavioral predictions for two popular mechanisms, sampling and maximum a posteriori, and examine how they affect the outcome of the 2AFC task. These predictions are used in a combined visual 2AFC and estimation experiment. Our results strongly suggest that subjects use a maximum a posteriori mechanism. Further, our derivations and experimental paradigm establish the already standard 2AFC task as a behavioral tool for measuring how humans make decisions under uncertainty.

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