Improving the reliability of model-based decision-making estimates in the two-stage decision task with reaction-times and drift-diffusion modeling

摘要

Author summary In this paper, we report a reliability analysis for the estimation of "model basedness" a psychological construct that informs a wealth of studies in animal, human and clinical research. We consider an exemplar paradigm, the two-step task, widely used in the recent literature. We report low reliability for model-agnostic model-based estimates, as well as computational model parameter estimates. We suggest how a model-based/free trade-off might affect reaction-time variability in this task, and go on to suggest use of model parameter estimates based on a combination of choice and RT. Finally, we demonstrate that combining choice and RT estimates improves both model-agnostic and algorithmic model-based estimates.