Choice confidence bridges credit assignment to levels of decision hierarchy

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that subjective decision confidence, influenced by social advice, plays a crucial role in how individuals assign credit or blame across different levels of decision-making hierarchy.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that confidence, modulated through social influence, links hierarchical decision levels and affects credit assignment.

Findings

Social advice influences decision strategy changes.

Confidence modulates blame assignment in hierarchical decisions.

Empirical support for confidence as a bridge in decision hierarchy.

Abstract

Everyday decisions often involve many different levels. What connects these higher and lower level decisions hierarchy to one another determines how the cause(s) of failures are interpreted. It is hypothesized that decision confidence guides the assignment of blame to the correct level of hierarchy but this hypothesis has only been tested by manipulation of sensory evidence itself. We examined the consequences of modulating subjective confidence in hierarchical decision making via extra-sensory, social influence. Participants who made hierarchical, motion-plus-bandit decisions also received social information from a partner that advised the participant in the motion task. The strength of social advice -- independently from sensory signals -- modulated the likelihood of strategy change after negative feedback. Our findings therefore provide strong empirical evidence that subjective confidence per se acts as the bridge in assignment of credit and blame to various levels of decision hierarchy.