biostudies-literatureHornsby ANRoyal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851NICHD NIH HHSRoyal SocietyWellcome TrustNational Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentDunnhumby104244https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7315129biostudies-literatureUnknown200Recent findings suggest a bidirectional relationship between preferences and choices such that what is chosen can become preferred. Yet, it is still commonly held that preferences for individual items are maintained, such as caching a separate value estimate for each experienced option. Instead, we propose that all possible choice options and preferences are represented in a shared, continuous, multidimensional space that supports generalization. Decision making is cast as a learning process that seeks to align choices and preferences to maintain coherency. We formalized an error-driven learning model that updates preferences to align with past choices, which makes repeating those and related choices more likely in the future. The model correctly predicts that making a free choice increases preferences along related attributes. For example, after choosing a political candidate based on trivial information (e.g., they like cats), voters' views on abortion, immigration, and trade subsequently shifted to match their chosen candidate.CognitionHow decisions and the desire for coherency shape subjective preferences over time.PMC7315129P01 HD0806791P01HD080679WT106931MA1830295Hornsby ANLove BCfalseHow decisions and the desire for coherency shape subjective preferences over time.Recent findings suggest a bidirectional relationship between preferences and choices such that what is chosen can become preferred. Yet, it is still commonly held that preferences for individual items are maintained, such as caching a separate value estimate for each experienced option. Instead, we propose that all possible choice options and preferences are represented in a shared, continuous, multidimensional space that supports generalization. Decision making is cast as a learning process that seeks to align choices and preferences to maintain coherency. We formalized an error-driven learning model that updates preferences to align with past choices, which makes repeating those and related choices more likely in the future. The model correctly predicts that making a free choice increases preferences along related attributes. For example, after choosing a political candidate based on trivial information (e.g., they like cats), voters' views on abortion, immigration, and trade subsequently shifted to match their chosen candidate.2020-01-01T00:00:00Z2020 Jul2024-11-08T22:20:58.194Z2020-07-04T07:20:13ZS-EPMC73151293222261510.1016/j.cognition.2020.104244