Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
PLoS One. 2011;6(11):e27107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027107. Epub 2011 Nov 9.
Much publicity has been given to the fact that people's economic decisions often deviate from the rational predictions of standard economic models. In the classic ultimatum game, for example, most people turn down financial gains by rejecting unequal monetary splits. The present study points to neglected individual differences in this debate. After participants played the ultimatum game we tested for individual differences in cognitive control capacity of the most and least economic responders. The key finding was that people who were higher in cognitive control, as measured by behavioral (Go/No-Go performance) and neural (No-Go N2 amplitude) markers, did tend to behave more in line with the standard models and showed increased acceptance of unequal splits. Hence, the cognitively highest scoring decision-makers were more likely to maximize their monetary payoffs and adhere to the standard economic predictions. Findings question popular claims with respect to the rejection of standard economic models and the irrationality of human economic decision-making.
大量宣传表明，人们的经济决策往往偏离标准经济模型的理性预测。例如，在经典的最后通牒博弈中，大多数人拒绝接受不平等的金钱分割，从而放弃了经济利益。本研究指出了在这一争论中被忽视的个体差异。在参与者玩完最后通牒游戏后，我们测试了最经济和最不经济的回应者的认知控制能力的个体差异。关键发现是，在行为（Go/No-Go 表现）和神经（No-Go N2 振幅）指标上表现出更高认知控制能力的人，往往更符合标准模型，并且增加了对不平等分割的接受程度。因此，得分最高的决策者更有可能最大化他们的货币收益，并遵守标准的经济预测。这些发现对拒绝标准经济模型和人类经济决策的非理性的流行观点提出了质疑。
