Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31664035›Full record

ArticleNature communications2019

Goal congruency dominates reward value in accounting for behavioral and neural correlates of value-based decision-making.

Romy Frömer, Carolyn K Dean Wolf, Amitai Shenhav

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Dopamine Boosts Motivation for Prosocial Effort in Parkinson's Disease.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
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  9. Functions of the posterior cingulate cortex and default network.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
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  18. Article
  19. Dissociable Contributions of the Medial Parietal Cortex to Recognition Memory.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Romy FrömerCognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. romy_fromer@brown.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9468-4014
Carolyn K Dean WolfCognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Amitai ShenhavCognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. amitai_shenhav@brown.edu.

Funding

The neural basis of sequential control in human and non-human primatesP20GM103645 · NIGMS · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI WORDEN, MICHAEL S · 2013 to 2022
$22.9M
NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM103645
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

When choosing between options, whether menu items or career paths, we can evaluate how rewarding each one will be, or how congruent it is with our current choice goal (e.g., to point out the best option or the worst one.). Past decision-making research interpreted findings through the former lens, but in these experiments the most rewarding option was always most congruent with the task goal (choosing the best option). It is therefore unclear to what extent expected reward vs. goal congruency can account for choice value findings. To deconfound these two variables, we performed three behavioral studies and an fMRI study in which the task goal varied between identifying the best vs. the worst option. Contrary to prevailing accounts, we find that goal congruency dominates choice behavior and neural activity. We separately identify dissociable signals of expected reward. Our findings call for a reinterpretation of previous research on value-based choice.

Indexed as

Choice BehaviorDecision MakingGoalsRewardBrainFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNeostriatumOxygenReaction TimeYoung AdultOxygen

Identifiers

PMID31664035
PMCPMC6820735

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.