Event-related potentials can reveal differences between two decision-making groups

Previous research has shown that a complex decision is dependent on an underlying utility metric that is used by decision making processes to accumulate preference for one alternative. This study postulated that a state of indecision may arise if this underlying metric is poorly organized. The underlying metric was examined with a paired comparison task while measuring event-related potentials (ERP) for subjects classified as 'career decided' and 'career undecided'. Stimuli for comparison were presented either sequentially or simultaneously. The simultaneous condition produced results consistent with the hypothesis that undecided subjects have a poorly organized value metric as revealed in both the behavioral data and the P3 component. A relationship between P3 amplitude and word distance on the underlying metric was found only for the decided group. This was interpreted in terms of the previously documented relationship between P3 and the constructs of decision confidence and task difficulty. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.