Brain potentials associated with the outcome processing in framing effects

Framing effect is a cognitive bias referring to the phenomenon that people respond differently to different but objectively equivalent descriptions of the same problem. By measuring event-related potentials, the present study aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the framing effect, especially how the negative and positive frames influence the outcome processing in our brain. Participants were presented directly with outcomes framed either positively in terms of lives saved or negatively in terms of lives lost in large and small group conditions, and were asked to rate the favorableness of each of them. The behavioral results showed that the framing effect occurred in both group size conditions, with more favorable evaluations associated with positive framing. Compared with outcomes in positive framing condition, a significant feedback-related negativity (FRN) effect was elicited by outcomes in negative framing condition, even though the outcomes in different conditions were objectively equivalent. The results are explained in terms of the associative model of attribute framing effect which states that attribute framing effect occurs as a result of a valence-based associative processing.

► We examine the neural basis of framing effects by using ERPs.
► Different FRN activities are elicited by the same but differently framed outcome.
► The FRN is observed in problem context of life-death problems.
► Framing effect is not group size-sensitive in attribute framing effects.
► The FRN is observed when participants have no opportunity to learn.