Dynamic selection in the context of perceptual decision making

Details

Supervisors

Crevecoeur, Frédéric

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil biomédical, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

This thesis explores the limitations of the two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) paradigm in decision-making research and proposes a novel approach incorporating continuous choices. The motivation stems from the need to better reflect the complexity of real-life decision-making scenarios. An extended experimental paradigm was developed, incorporating both traditional 2AFC tasks and a continuous decision-making task using random dot motion (RDM) stimuli. The results reveal distinct sensory mechanisms between the two tasks, highlighting the shortcomings of the 2AFC paradigm. Additionally, participants exhibit better performance with horizontal movements in the multiple-choice task, supporting the hypothesis of biomechanical influences on decision-making. Furthermore, the perceptual paradigm with multiple choices uncovered a latent phenomenon in the 2AFC task—a visual illusion resulting in a bimodal error angle distribution which remains relatively unexplained and under-reported.