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Poster C146 in Poster Session C - Friday, August 9, 2024, 11:15 am – 1:15 pm, Johnson Ice Rink
Learning expectations shape initial cognitive control allocation
Javier Masis1 (), Sebastian Musslick2,3, Jonathan D. Cohen1; 1Princeton University, 2Osnabrück University, 3Brown University
Current models of cognitive control frame its allocation as a process of expected utility maximization. The benefits of a candidate action are weighed against the costs of that control allocation (e.g. opportunity costs). Recent theorizing has found that it is normative to account for the value of learning when determining control allocation. Here, we sought to test whether learning expectations could explain people's initial control allocation in a standard dot-motion perceptual task. We found that participants' initial skill level and learning rate in a first block were able to predict their initial willingness to accumulate evidence in a second block, interpreted as a greater control allocation for the task. Our findings support the hypothesis that agents consider learnability when allocating cognitive control.
Keywords: learning decision making cognitive control drift diffusion model