Dynamic attribute activation explains gaze biases in choice.

Gaze biases in choice are driven by dynamic activation of attributes influenced by context, with positive attributes activated during goal-aligned decisions.

• Why it matters: Understanding why visual attention affects preferences is crucial for explaining decision-making processes and their variability across different situations.
• What they did: The authors combined eye-tracking and think-aloud protocols to develop a computational model that predicts how gaze activates specific attributes based on context and goals.
• The result: The model reveals that gaze-driven attribute activation varies with stimulus desirability and goals, explaining when and why gaze influences choices and enabling better prediction of decision behavior.