Executive function, rule selection, and probability judgment

Results of fMRI studies show that on tasks involving reasoning about probabilities, brain activation patterns differ between those who make judgments based on ratio rules and those who make judgments based on intuitive heuristics. These results suggest a three-layer adaptive resonance theory model connecting the amygdala and three executive prefrontal regions (orbital, anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral). A simplified version of the model can reproduce ratio bias data and is now being applied to base rate neglect data.