title: Tuning the speed-accuracy trade-off to maximize reward rate in multisensory decision-making.
abstract: For decisions made under time pressure, effective decision making based on uncertain or ambiguous evidence requires efficient accumulation of evidence over time, as well as appropriately balancing speed and accuracy, known as the speed/accuracy trade-off. For simple unimodal stimuli, previous studies have shown that human subjects set their speed/accuracy trade-off to maximize reward rate. We extend this analysis to situations in which information is provided by multiple sensory modalities. Analyzing previously collected data (Drugowitsch et al., 2014), we show that human subjects adjust their speed/accuracy trade-off to produce near-optimal reward rates. This trade-off can change rapidly across trials according to the sensory modalities involved, suggesting that it is represented by neural population codes rather than implemented by slow neuronal mechanisms such as gradual changes in synaptic weights. Furthermore, we show that deviations from the optimal speed/accuracy trade-off can be explained by assuming an incomplete gradient-based learning of these trade-offs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, United States.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drugowitsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: DeAngelis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, United States.
authors.forename: Dora E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Angelaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, United States.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pouget
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: computational biology; decision-making; human; multisensory integration; optimality; speed-accuracy trade-off; systems biology