Perceptual Decoys Do Not Reliably Bias Choice: Boundary-Condition Evidence

Abstract

Abstract The decoy effect occurs when adding an inferior third option biases choice between two others, even though the decoy is rarely chosen. While robust in value-based decisions, evidence in perceptual tasks is mixed. Using the rhesus-macaque paradigm from Parrish et al. (2015), we tested whether a perceptual decoy effect generalizes to humans. Participants ( n = 50) completed 400 trials. Contrary to our preregistered prediction, we found no reliable decoy effect. Accuracy improved on the hardest trials (Level 1) when a decoy was present, response times were slower in decoy conditions than baseline, and accuracy was higher for tall versus wide rectangles, consistent with the vertical–horizontal asymmetry. The relatively wide spacing of stimuli may have reduced grouping and attentional clustering; because spacing was not manipulated, this remains a hypothesis for future tests. Results suggest that context effects in perceptual choice operate under narrower boundary conditions than in value-based domains.

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