Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

We performed an exploratory experiment aiming to assess the use of stopping rules in information acquisition.Participants were requested to make a decision or procrastinate on 24 economic/financial scenarios after buying informationpieces. Behavioral and EEG data were recorded for analysis. Results showed that participants decided according to Bayesiancalculations to stop information acquisition and decide. Moreover, information acquisition strategies seemed consistent withprospect theory, with participants weighing information pieces differently and seeking more or less information given differentmanipulations in scenario probability, consequence valence and intensity. EEG data suggests a lateralization at frontal electrodesites. With probabilities stated, low negative consequence scenarios showed a positive peak at F3 around 200 ms before adecision was made. When probabilities were not stated, high positive consequences scenarios evoked a negative deflection atF4 around 400 ms before a decision.