Working memory mechanisms in human decision making

• Applicant: Dr. Bernhard Spitzer
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2015 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 282711668

When making categorical decisions, we compare momentary information about a stimulus with an active memory trace. The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying working memory and decision-making, however, have traditionally been studied separately. Here, I propose experiments designed to systematically explore the role of human working memory in integrating multiple pieces of information into a decision. Therein I will focus both on concrete perceptual stimulus attributes and on abstract magnitude information in form of number symbols. Computational modelling will be combined with magnetoencephalographic and pupillometric measures, to characterize the interplay between mnemonic and decisional processing at the behavioural and neural levels. A particular focus will be on the involvement of working memory processes in the maintenance and updating of decisional context, in form of momentary predictions and expectations, as a basis for efficient decision-making in our dynamic, non-stationary environment.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Dr. Christopher Summerfield