The effects of neurological damage on counterfactual thinking, regret, and decision making

Abstract

In 5 experiments neurologically damaged patients’ counterfactual reasoning, decision making (DM) and experience of counterfactually mediated emotions (CME) was explored. 17 patients, with varying lesion sites resulting from a stroke, (7 female) aged between 31 and 84 (M=64.5 years) and 17 controls (12 female) aged between 28 and 74 (M= 59 years) participated in the project. The project was conducted with three aims in mind; to establish if regret itself is experienced in brain damaged individuals; to explore the component processes of CMEs and widen the search for the brain areas that supports these; to conduct research that points to how the experience of regret directly impacts on future DM and underpins adaptive behavioural change. Through exploring the link between regret and adaptive choice switching, investigating counterfactual reasoning abilities, CME responses, emotional responses to The Regret Gambling Task (RGT) and responses in a task designed to measure risk taking, this project sheds new light on how neurological damage affects counterfactual reasoning, emotions and DM. In addition, two experiments were conducted with undergraduate students to explore whether CMEs are produced slowly, through deliberative processes, or quickly and effortlessly. Results were interpreted as evidence for fast and effortless CME production.

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