Dummel Sebastian, Rummel Jan
a Department of Psychology , Heidelberg University , Heidelberg , Germany.
Memory. 2016 Nov;24(10):1435-43. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2015.1117642. Epub 2015 Dec 7.
Take-the-best (TTB) is a decision strategy according to which attributes about choice options are sequentially processed in descending order of validity, and attribute processing is stopped once an attribute discriminates between options. Consequently, TTB-decisions rely on only one, the best discriminating, attribute, and lower-valid attributes need not be processed because they are TTB-irrelevant. Recent research suggests, however, that when attribute information is visually present during decision-making, TTB-irrelevant attributes are processed and integrated into decisions nonetheless. To examine whether TTB-irrelevant attributes are retrieved and integrated when decisions are made memory-based, we tested whether the consistency of a TTB-irrelevant attribute affects TTB-users' decision behaviour in a memory-based decision task. Participants first learned attribute configurations of several options. Afterwards, they made several decisions between two of the options, and we manipulated conflict between the second-best attribute and the TTB-decision. We assessed participants' decision confidence and the proportion of TTB-inconsistent choices. According to TTB, TTB-irrelevant attributes should not affect confidence and choices, because these attributes should not be retrieved. Results showed, however, that TTB-users were less confident and made more TTB-inconsistent choices when TTB-irrelevant information was in conflict with the TTB-decision than when it was not, suggesting that TTB-users retrieved and integrated TTB-irrelevant information.
取优启发式（TTB）是一种决策策略，根据该策略，关于选择选项的属性会按照有效性的降序依次进行处理，一旦某个属性能够区分选项，属性处理就会停止。因此，TTB决策仅依赖于一个最佳区分属性，较低有效性的属性无需处理，因为它们与TTB无关。然而，最近的研究表明，当属性信息在决策过程中以视觉形式呈现时，与TTB无关的属性仍然会被处理并整合到决策中。为了检验在基于记忆的决策中与TTB无关的属性是否会被检索并整合，我们在一项基于记忆的决策任务中测试了与TTB无关的属性的一致性是否会影响TTB使用者的决策行为。参与者首先学习了几个选项的属性配置。之后，他们在其中两个选项之间做出了几个决策，我们操纵了次优属性与TTB决策之间的冲突。我们评估了参与者的决策信心以及TTB不一致选择的比例。根据TTB，与TTB无关的属性不应影响信心和选择，因为这些属性不应被检索。然而，结果表明，当与TTB无关的信息与TTB决策冲突时，TTB使用者的信心较低，做出的TTB不一致选择也比不冲突时更多，这表明TTB使用者检索并整合了与TTB无关的信息。
