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Cardiac Vagal Tone & Attentional Control Settings in Adaptive Choice

Speller, Lassiter Freeman, M.A.
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1816-0312
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu161009387533925

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Making choices that range from simple to complex and from important to inconsequential is something humans experience on a regular basis. This process is largely controlled by executive brain regions related to judgment and decision-making. Interestingly, such executive brain regions are associated with resting heart rate variability (HRV) defined as the temporal variation between heart beats and reflects cardiac vagal tone. If the areas of the brain responsible for decision making and HRV overlap, then resting HRV should predict better choice behaviors and performance. Adaptive choice visual search (ACVS) is a paradigm developed to capture the attentional control strategies observers deploy when making choices in dynamically shifting environments (Irons & Leber, 2018). In this dissertation, the primary aim was to explore the association between resting vagally mediated HRV and performance on the ACVS task. In addition, I sought to investigate if two psychological variables, i.) adaptive choice strategies and ii.) maximization, were independently associated with ACVS performance and how these variables moderated an HRV-ACVS association. Choice satisficing refers to the evaluation of selections in a choice situation that simply meet a threshold of acceptability (Schwartz, et al., 2002). I predicted that those with higher HRV would have faster reaction times (RT), utilize more optimal search strategies, and demonstrate qualities of maximizers - where individuals seek out the best available choice from all of the options available to them - based on their scores on the Maximization Scale (Schwartz, et al., 2002). I also hypothesized that switching between attentional sets incurs a response time cost, and that there will be lower switching costs among those with higher HRV. In my study, vagally mediated HRV was collected continuously throughout the experiment. Participants (N = 62; n = 34 males, n = 17 ethnic minorities, mean age = 20.84 years (SD = 2.86)) first completed a baseline-resting period, followed by a series of scales and questionnaires before moving into the first condition of the adaptive choice visual search task. Instructions and an opportunity to practice were given before proceeding with the choice block (CB) condition, followed by an effortful rating for the CB condition and a short break. During this break, participants were asked an open-ended question regarding their technique in which I classified individuals as 'performance maximizers', 'effort minimizers', and 'random searchers'. Next, participants completed the repeated strategy (RS) condition, an effortful rating, and a second break, followed by the optimal strategy (OS) condition, an effort rating, and the final break. Lastly, participants completed two more scales before being debriefed. Reaction time and accuracy were collected during all five blocks of visual search. Overall, the findings of my dissertation suggest resting HRV predicts ACVS performance in the RS and OS conditions only, or when the optimal strategy is enforced. Furthermore, HRV may be predictive of adaptive choice performance metrics as a function of trait tendencies to maximize and strategy selection, however future studies should work to verify such claims. Overall, the findings of my dissertation suggest HRV serves as a biomarker for individual differences in adaptive choice when the optimal strategy is known or enforced.
Julian Thayer, PhD (Advisor)
Michael Vasey, PhD (Committee Chair)
Andrew Leber, PhD (Committee Member)
Kevin Passino, PhD (Committee Member)
136 p.
Cognitive Psychology; Physiological Psychology; Psychology
cognitive control; attentional control; visual search; adaptive choice; visual search; executive control; heart rate variability, cardiac vagal tone; executive function

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Speller, M.A., L. F. (2021). Cardiac Vagal Tone & Attentional Control Settings in Adaptive Choice [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu161009387533925

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Speller, M.A., Lassiter. Cardiac Vagal Tone & Attentional Control Settings in Adaptive Choice. 2021. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu161009387533925.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Speller, M.A., Lassiter. "Cardiac Vagal Tone & Attentional Control Settings in Adaptive Choice." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu161009387533925

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu161009387533925
149
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.