Human preferences are biased towards associative information

Abstract

There is ample evidence that the brain generates predictions that help interpret sensory input. To build such predictions the brain capitalizes upon learned statistical regularities and associations (e.g., “A” is followed by “B”; “C” appears together with “D”). The centrality of predictions to mental activities gave rise to the hypothesis that associative information with predictive value is perceived as intrinsically valuable. Such value would ensure that this information is proactively searched for, thereby promoting certainty and stability in our environment. We therefore tested here whether, all else being equal, participants would prefer stimuli that contained more rather than less associative information. In Experiments 1 and 2 we used novel, meaningless visual shapes and showed that participants preferred associative shapes over shapes that had not been associated with other shapes during training. In Experiment 3 we used pictures of real-world objects and again demonstrated a preference for stimuli that elicit stronger associations. These results support our proposal that predictive information is affectively tagged, and enhance our understanding of the formation of everyday preferences.

Keywords:

• Prediction
• Preference
• Perception
• Affect
• Statistical learning
• Novelty

We thank E. Aminoff, J. Boshyan and K. Devaney for assistance with Experiment 3. This study was supported by a Max Planck postdoctoral fellowship (Dr med. Anneliese & DSc Dieter Pontius Foundation) (ST), C.V. Starr Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (AS) and Israeli Center of Research Excellence in Cognition [grant number 51/11] (MB).

We thank E. Aminoff, J. Boshyan and K. Devaney for assistance with Experiment 3. This study was supported by a Max Planck postdoctoral fellowship (Dr med. Anneliese & DSc Dieter Pontius Foundation) (ST), C.V. Starr Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (AS) and Israeli Center of Research Excellence in Cognition [grant number 51/11] (MB).

Notes

¹ Due to a coding error in the demographic data across the choice study and the valence and image quality norming studies associated with Experiment 3, exact distributions are unavailable for each separately. However, across the individuals who participated in one of these three studies, approximately 70% were female, and the approximate mean age was 21.8 years.