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Poster Session B: Wednesday, August 13, 1:00 – 4:00 pm, de Brug & E‑Hall

Testing an Integrative Framework for the Sense of Control

Alireza Modirshanechi¹, Peter Dayan², Eric Schulz³; ¹Helmholtz Zentrum München, ²Max-Planck Institute, ³Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

Presenter: Alireza Modirshanechi

The extent to which we experience a sense of control over our environment shapes how we perceive the world and plan our actions. But when precisely do we consider ourselves to be in control? Here, we define the sense of control as the 'degree of _a priori_ readiness to collect rewards that have yet to be announced.' We formalize this notion and propose degree-$l$ empowerment ${\rm Emp}_l$ as a unified measure that integrates various conceptualizations of the sense of control. $l$ is a free parameter that regulates how the sense of control depends on three fundamental determinants: (i) action availability, (ii) _certain_ achievability of potentially desired outcomes, and (iii) _possible_ achievability of potentially desired outcomes. We show that ${\rm Emp}_l$ accurately predicts more than 80% of participants' decisions in an experimental paradigm in which they choose between possible and certain achievability of future rewards, and that the value of $l$ effectively captures inter-individual differences in participants' preferences that are also associated with scores on the widely recognized Locus-of-Control survey. Our findings thus lay a foundation for identifying the human sense of control and investigating its relationships with personality traits, psychological disorders, and broader sociological conditions.

Topic Area: Reward, Value & Social Decision Making

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