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Contributed Talk Session: Friday, August 15, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Room C1.03
Poster Session C: Friday, August 15, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, de Brug & E‑Hall

Good and consequential counterfactual outcomes are prioritized during learning

Kate Nussenbaum¹, Nathaniel D. Daw²; ¹Boston University, Boston University, ²Princeton University

Presenter: Kate Nussenbaum

People can learn from actions not taken by leveraging mental models to imagine their potential consequences. However, for any given choice, the number of possible, alternative actions often exceeds the brain's capacity for simulation. Here, we develop a new task to measure behaviorally whether people selectively prioritize the counterfactual updates that are most likely to improve their future decisions. Our initial results (N = 69) indicate that people most strongly consider high-magnitude alternatives as well as those that are better than the option they selected, suggesting that people do indeed consider alternative possibilities strategically.

Topic Area: Memory, Spatial Cognition & Skill Learning

Extended Abstract: Full Text PDF