Department of Decision Sciences and IGIER, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.
Department of Social and Political Sciences and Dondena Research Center, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.
PLoS One. 2019 Feb 15;14(2):e0211856. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211856. eCollection 2019.
In economics, models of decision-making under risk are widely investigated. Since many empirical studies have shown patterns in choice behavior that classical models fail to predict, several descriptive theories have been developed. Due to an evident phenotypic heterogeneity, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients have shown a general deficit in decision making when compared to healthy control subjects (HCs). However, the direction for impairment in decision-making in OCD patients is still unclear. Hence, bridging decision-making models widely used in the economic literature with mental health research may improve the understanding of preference relations in severe patients, and may enhance intervention designs. We investigate the behavior of OCD patients with respect to HCs by means of decision making economic models within a typical neuropsychological setting, such as the Cambridge Gambling Task. In this task subjects have to decide the amount of their initial wealth to invest in each risky decision. To account for heterogenous preferences, we have analyzed the micro-level data for a more informative analysis of the choices made by the subjects. We consider two influential models in economics: the expected value (EV), which assumes risk neutrality, and a multiple reference points model, an alternative formulation of Disappointment theory. We find evidence that (medicated) OCD patients are more consistent with EV than HCs. The former appear to be more risk neutral, namely, less sensitive to risk than HCs. They also seem to base their decisions on disappointment avoidance less than HCs.
在经济学中，风险决策模型得到了广泛的研究。由于许多实证研究表明，经典模型无法预测选择行为的模式，因此已经开发了几种描述性理论。由于明显的表型异质性，强迫症（OCD）患者在决策方面表现出普遍缺陷，与健康对照组（HCs）相比。然而，OCD 患者在决策方面的损害方向尚不清楚。因此，将经济学文献中广泛使用的决策模型与心理健康研究相结合，可能有助于加深对严重患者偏好关系的理解，并可能增强干预设计。我们通过在典型神经心理学环境（如剑桥赌博任务）中使用经济决策模型来研究 OCD 患者与 HCs 的行为。在该任务中，受试者必须决定将其初始财富的多少投资于每个风险决策。为了说明异质偏好，我们分析了微观层面的数据，以便更详细地分析受试者做出的选择。我们考虑了经济学中的两个有影响力的模型：期望价值（EV），它假设风险中立，以及多个参考点模型，这是失望理论的替代表述。我们发现有证据表明（服用药物的）OCD 患者比 HCs 更符合 EV。前者似乎更倾向于风险中立，即对风险的敏感性低于 HCs。他们似乎也不像 HCs 那样基于回避失望来做出决策。
