The attraction effect in perceptual decision-making: a case of dominance asymmetry.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The attraction effect (AE), or asymmetric dominance effect, occurs when the presence of a clearly inferior decoy increases the choice of a target over a competitor. While robust in value-based domains, findings with perceptual stimuli have been inconsistent, with some studies even reporting reversals in triangular arrangements of stimuli.

Methods

Across four experiments and a reanalysis of prior data, we investigated whether these inconsistencies are attributable to the presence or absence of genuine item-wise dominance asymmetry. We utilized novel star-shaped stimuli and traditional rectangle stimuli to test the dominance asymmetry.

Results

Experiment 1 established that the star-shaped stimuli reliably produced strong target-decoy (TD) dominance over com

SUBMITTER: Rath T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12756130 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature