The influence of memory on value-based decision-making

Although it may not always be apparent, memory plays a crucial role in the ability to navigate
everyday life. Memory allows us to type on our keyboard without having to look at the keys and
remember to take our prescription medication without the use of external aids. Moreover, memory
enables us to reflect upon previously made, sometimes faulty, decisions, and their outcomes,
allowing for adaptive decision-making of future choices in an otherwise uncertain environment
(e.g., improving investment strategies based on previously, perhaps poorly, made investments).
Traditionally, potential outcomes associated with available options are known in value-based
decision-making research - also known as decisions from description - but recent research has
illustrated drawbacks of these description-based prospects as they do not generalize to many realworld
experiences. Often probability distributions are not known and thus cannot be relied upon
when making choices. Rather, one must use memories of previous experiences formed from
outcomes of past choices to effectively guide and improve future choices. We aim to investigate the
relationship between memory and decision making when evidence for available options is
accumulated over time.
Extending this approach further, our choices do not always result in the outcomes we expect, and in
such cases, negative outcomes may promote thought of 'what could have been' (e.g., 'if only I had
invested in a different company, I would have made a profit'). Such counterfactual thinking has
been shown to affect future choices as to avoid those situations from occurring again in the future
and not having to experience the negative affect associated with the outcomes. Counterfactual
information is effectively a learning experience where we rely on our memory in an attempt to
avoid the same or similar outcome in the future. The project will additionally assess how
counterfactual information (e.g., experienced regret) may influence or mediate episodic memory
and inform subsequent choices as evidence accumulates over time. We will draw from previous
studies from the fields of memory, economics, psychophysics, and decision-making. In addition to
behavioral experiments, neuroimaging techniques-such as electroencephalography-will be used
in an attempt to gain insight into how the brain accumulates evidence and integrates it into memory
for future decision-making.
The contributions from the project are two-fold, with intellectual and potential societal implications.
The findings will expand upon the current understanding of economic decision-making by adding
relevant novel knowledge as to the role memory plays in value-based decision-making. The project
will deepen current understanding by elaborating how pieces of accumulated evidence are
integrated into memory and how it influences future value-based choices of the same nature.
Understanding the relationship between memory and decision-making processes can lead to
interventions which minimize harmful consequences as a function of changes in memory
performance on choices (e.g., increased susceptibility to scams and advertising) in older
populations.