Post-decision wagering objectively measures awareness.

Full Abstract

The lack of an accepted measure of awareness has made claims that accurate decisions can be made without awareness controversial. Here we introduce a new objective measure of awareness, post-decision wagering. We show that participants fail to maximize cash earnings by wagering high following correct decisions in blindsight, the Iowa gambling task and an artificial grammar task. This demonstrates, without the uncertainties associated with the conventional subjective measures of awareness (verbal reports and confidence ratings), that the participants were not aware that their decisions were correct. Post-decision wagering may be used to study the neural correlates of consciousness.

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Author information

Author/s: Persaud, Navindra (N); McLeod, Peter (P); Cowey, Alan (A);

Affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. nav.persaud(-atsign-)utoronto.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Nature neuroscience (Nat Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Feb; vol 10 (issue 2) : pp 257-61

Dates: Created 2007/01/29; Completed 2007/04/03;

PMID: 17237774, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Nat Neurosci. 2007 Feb;10(2):140-1. (PMID: 17259960)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Awareness - physiology
Blindness, Cortical - psychology
Brain - physiology
Consciousness - physiology
Decision Making - physiology
Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology
Female
Gambling - psychology

Gambling - psychology
Humans
Language Tests
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Sensory Thresholds - physiology
Unconscious (Psychology)
Verbal Behavior - physiology

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