How suboptimal is suboptimal choice?

In a frequently used suboptimal‐choice procedure pigeons choose between an alternative that delivers three food pellets with p = 1.0 and an alternative that delivers ten pellets with p = 0.2. Because pigeons reliably choose the probabilistic (suboptimal) alternative, the procedure has been proposed as a nonhuman analog of human gambling. The present experiments were conducted to evaluate two potential threats to the validity of this procedure. Experiments 1 and 2 evaluated if pigeons obtained food at a lower unit price (i.e., pecks per pellet) on the suboptimal alternative than on the optimal alternative. When pigeons worked under this suboptimal procedure they all preferred the suboptimal alternative despite some pigeons paying a higher price for food on that alternative. In Experiment 2, when the unit price ratio more closely approximated the inverse of the expected value ratio, pigeons continued to prefer the suboptimal alternative despite its economic suboptimality. Experiment 3 evaluated if, in accord with the string‐theory of gambling, the valuation of the suboptimal alternative was increased when pigeons misattributed a subset of the suboptimal no‐food trials to the optimal alternative. When trial sequences were arranged to minimize these possible attribution errors, pigeons still preferred the suboptimal alternative. These data remove two threats to the validity of the suboptimal choice procedure; threats that would have suggested that suboptimal choice reflects economic maximization.     

A test of the regulatory fit hypothesis in perceptual classification learning

This article builds a bridge between research on regulatory focus in motivation and classification learning. It tests the hypothesis that a fit between the situational regulatory focus and the reward structure of the task leads to greater cognitive flexibility than does a mismatch between situational focus and the reward structure and that the fit between the regulatory-focus-induced processing characteristics and the nature of the environment influences performance. In Experiment 1, we used a classification task for which cognitive flexibility should be advantageous and examined both gains (Experiment 1A) and losses (Experiment 1B) reward structures. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used a classification task for which cognitive flexibility should be disadvantageous. In Experiment 2, we used a gains reward structure, and in Experiment 3, we used a losses reward structure. As was predicted, when cognitive flexibility was advantageous, the participants in a regulatory fit showed faster learning and more quickly shifted toward the optimal response strategy. Also as was predicted, when cognitive flexibility was disadvantageous, the participants in a regulatory mismatch showed faster learning and more quickly shifted toward the optimal response strategy. Implications for current theories of motivation and classification learning are discussed.     

Suboptimal choice and initial‐link requirement

Pigeons (n = 14) were trained in a concurrent‐chains suboptimal choice procedure that tested the effect of an increased ratio requirement in the initial links. Fixed‐ratio 1 and 25 conditions were manipulated within subjects in a counterbalanced order. In all conditions, distinct terminal‐link stimuli on a suboptimal alternative signaled either primary reinforcement (20% of the time) or extinction (80% of the time). On an optimal alternative, two distinct terminal‐link stimuli each signaled a 50% chance of primary reinforcement. Preference for the suboptimal alternative was significantly attenuated, and in some birds completely reversed, by the larger response requirement irrespective of condition order. This larger response requirement also generated a notable increase in between‐subject variability. A measure of cumulative choice responding is introduced to mitigate the problems associated with traditional session averages. Ordinal predictions of some current theories of suboptimal choice are also considered in light of the results.     

The Monty Hall dilemma in pigeons: Effect of investment in initial choice

In the Monty Hall dilemma, humans are initially given a choice among three alternatives, one of which has a hidden prize. After choosing, but before it is revealed whether they have won the prize, they are shown that one of the remaining alternatives does not have the prize. They are then asked whether they want to stay with their original choice or switch to the remaining alternative. Although switching results in obtaining the prize two thirds of the time, humans consistently fail to adopt the optimal strategy of switching even after considerable training. Interestingly, there is evidence that pigeons show more optimal switching performance with this task than humans. Because humans often view even random choices already made as being more valuable than choices not made, we reasoned that if pigeons made a greater investment, it might produce an endowment or ownership effect resulting in more human-like suboptimal performance. On the other hand, the greater investment in the initial choice by the pigeons might facilitate switching behavior by helping them to better discriminate their staying versus switching behavior. In Experiment 1, we examined the effect of requiring pigeons to make a greater investment in their initial choice (20 pecks rather than the usual 1 peck). We found that the increased response requirement facilitated acquisition of the switching response. In Experiment 2, we showed that facilitation of switching due to the increased response requirement did not result from extinction of responding to the initially chosen location.     

Sunk cost: pigeons (Columba livia), too, show bias to complete a task rather than shift to another

The sunk cost effect involves the bias to stay with an alternative because one has already invested resources, even when there is a better alternative available. In a series of experiments, at various points during a 30-peck requirement, pigeons (Columba livia) could choose between completing the response requirement (at a different location in Experiment 1 or the same location in Experiments 3 and 4) and switching to a constant number of pecks. In three experiments, the pigeons showed a bias to complete the pecks already started, even when that required more pecking. We also demonstrated that the bias depended on the initial investment and was not produced merely because the pigeons preferred a variable alternative over a fixed alternative. The deviation from optimal choice suggests that pigeons show a bias similar to the sunk cost effect in humans.     

Inhibition of response mode in task switching

Task inhibition was explored in two experiments that employed a paradigm in which participants switched among three tasks. Two tasks required manual choice responses based on numerical judgment (parity or magnitude), whereas a third task required an unconditional double-press of both response keys. Both experiments showed that switching to a just-abandoned task (n-2 task repetition) generally leads to a performance cost relative to switching to another task. Specifically, this task inhibition effect also occurred for the double-press task, suggesting inhibition of response mode. Prolonging the task-cuing interval showed that advance task preparation reduced only inhibition of the double-press task but not of the choice tasks (Experiment 1). Prolonging the response-cue interval led to a decrease of the inhibition effect in all tasks (Experiment 2), suggesting a time-based release of task inhibition. Together, the experiments support the notion of a response-related component of task inhibition.     

Alan Baron: A pioneer in translational science

Primates take longer to choose between alternatives with smaller differences in value. This effect—a particular instance of the distance effect in symbolic comparisons—has not been replicated in birds. Instead, birds appear to respond independently to each alternative, such that the latency to choose depends primarily on the alternative of highest value. Three experiments tested for the distance effect in pigeons under conditions not previously considered. Experiment 1 presented pigeons with forced‐ and binary free‐choice trials, where each alternative was one of three possible delays to reinforcement (4, 8, and 16 s). Pigeons were exposed to the choice stimuli for different amounts of time and with different sample response requirements prior to the choice response. Experiment 2 added a fourth (0‐s delay) alternative. Experiment 3 substituted the 16‐s delay with a second 4‐s delay. In all experiments, pigeons systematically chose the shortest delay to reinforcement. Latency to choose the 4‐s delay did not vary when choosing against the 8‐s or 16‐s delay, regardless of whether choice stimuli were exposed for the duration of nine pecks (Experiment 1), or whether a 0‐s delay alternative was sometimes present (Experiment 2). Latency to choose the preferred of two identical alternatives (4‐s vs. 4‐s) was shorter than the latency to choose between different alternatives (4‐s vs. 8‐s; Experiment 3); this is the opposite of a distance effect. These results show no evidence of a distance effect in pigeon choice, consistent with the hypothesis that pigeons respond independently to each choice alternative.     

Vibrotactile pattern isolation/integration

Temporal integration has been cited as a major factor in temporal masking. Two experiments were designed to examine the conditions under which temporal integration may aid or hinder the perception of vibrotactile spatial patterns. In Experiment 1, the subject’s task was to discriminate between pairs of patterns. Each pattern was composed of two temporally separated pattern elements. When the task required the subjects to perceive the individual pattern elements, performance improved with temporal isolation—that is, performance improved as the temporal separation between the elements increased. In a second task, when the discrimination could be based on either the overall pattern shape or the pattern elements, temporal integration appeared to improve performance—that is, performance improved as the temporal separation decreased. In Experiment 2, an identification task was used. Several factors appeared to determine whether temporal integration aided or hindered pattern identification. When pattern elements similar to those in Experiment 1 were tested, performance improved with increasing temporal separation (isolation). A single function was fit to the discrimination (isolation) and identification (isolation) results. Whether temporal integration aids or hinders pattern perception appears to depend on pattern shape, the pattern elements, and the nature of the task.     

The Δ–∑ hypothesis: How contrast and reinforcement rate combine to generate suboptimal choice

When given a choice between two alternatives, each offering food after the same delay with different but signaled probabilities, pigeons often prefer the low probability alternative. This preference is surprising because pigeons fail to maximize the rate of food intake; they exhibit a suboptimal preference. We advance a new explanation, the Δ–∑ hypothesis, in which the difference in probability of reinforcement within terminal links (Δ) and the overall reinforcement probability rate of each alternative (∑) are the key variables responsible for such suboptimal preference. We tested the Δ–∑ hypothesis in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the Δs while maintaining constant all other parameters of the task, in particular the ∑s. We predicted a preference for the alternative with the larger Δ. In Experiment 2, we examined the effect of the overall reinforcement probabilities, the ∑s, while maintaining constant all other parameters of the task, in particular the Δs. We predicted a preference for the larger ∑. The results of both experiments support the Δ–∑ hypothesis.     

Facilitation in the abstract selection task: The effects of attentional and instructional factors

The present study examined performance on Wason's four-card abstract selection task. Baseline performance is very poor, usually less than 10% correct; and this task has a long record of resistance to facilitation. It was hypothesized that the two primary sources of difficulty are selective encoding of the problem information and the lack of satisfactory analytic processing. Three experiments were conducted to test this hypothesis. In Experiment 1, performance was improved by explicating the implication rule. The majority of subjects, however, still failed to make the correct selection. Subjects were required in Experiment 2 to provide reasons for their selection or non-selection of each of the cards. This response procedure, paired with an explicated rule, led to further improvements in performance (over 50% correct selections). In Experiment 3, the influence of the type of selection instruction (true-false vs. violation) was examined. Paired with an explicated rule and the reasons response format, violation instructions led to one of the highest correct selection rates ever observed for any version of the selection task: over 80% correct. Because of the importance of this result, it was replicated twice. The results of these three experiments are discussed in terms of Johnson-Laird and Byrne's mental models theory and Evans's two-stage model of reasoning.     

Methodological improvements to a Procedure for Rapidly Establishing Steady-State Behavior

We performed three experiments to improve the quality and retention of data obtained from a Procedure for Rapidly Establishing Steady-State Behavior (PRESS-B; Klapes et al., 2020). In Experiment 1, 120 participants worked on nine concurrent random-interval random-interval (conc RI RI) schedules and were assigned to four conditions of varying changeover delay (COD) length. The 0.5-s COD condition group exhibited the fewest instances of exclusive reinforcer acquisition. Importantly, this group did not differ in generalized matching law (GML) fit quality from the other groups. In Experiment 2, 60 participants worked on nine conc RI RI schedules with a wider range of scheduled reinforcement rate ratios than was used in Experiment 1. Participants showed dramatic reductions in exclusive reinforcer acquisition. Experiment 3 entailed a replication of Experiment 2 wherein blackout periods were implemented between the schedule presentations and each schedule remained in operation until at least one reinforcer was acquired on each alternative. GML fit quality was slightly more consistent in Experiment 3 than in the previous experiments. Thus, these results suggest that future PRESS-B studies should implement a shorter COD, a wider and richer scheduled reinforcement rate ratio range, and brief blackouts between schedule presentations for optimal data quality and retention.     

Contiguity and conditioned reinforcement in probabilistic choice

In a baseline condition, pigeons chose between an alternative that always provided food following a 30-s delay (100% reinforcement) and an alternative that provided food half of the time and blackout half of the time following 30-s delays (50% reinforcement). The different outcomes were signaled by different-colored keylights. On average, each alternative was chosen approximately equally often, replicating the finding of suboptimal choice in probabilistic reinforcement procedures. The efficacy of the delay stimuli (keylights) as conditioned reinforcers was assessed in other conditions by interposing a 5-s gap (keylights darkened) between the choice response and one or more of the delay stimuli. The strength of conditioned reinforcement was measured by the decrease in choice of an alternative when the alternative contained a gap. Preference for the 50% alternative decreased in conditions in which the gap preceded either all delay stimuli, both delay stimuli for the 50% alternative, or the food stimulus for the 50% alternative, but preference was not consistently affected in conditions in which the gap preceded only the 100% delay stimulus or the blackout stimulus for the 50% alternative. These results support the notion that conditioned reinforcement underlies the finding of suboptimal preference in probabilistic reinforcement procedures, and that the signal for food on the 50% reinforcement alternative functions as a stronger conditioned reinforcer than the signal for food on the 100% reinforcement alternative. In addition, the results fail to provide evidence that the signal for blackout functions as a conditioned punisher.     

Stronger suboptimal than optimal affective priming?

The finding of stronger affective priming in less conscious (suboptimal) conditions than in fully conscious (optimal) conditions (S. T. Murphy & R. B. Zajonc, 1993) is theoretically important because it contradicts notions that emotions are primarily reflected by conscious states. In 2 experiments, this pattern of results was obtained. Happy and angry faces were presented both optimally and suboptimally and were masked by unknown ideographs. In Experiment 1, instructions for the conscious and less conscious affective priming conditions were matched, and affective ratings of ideographs were determined. In Experiment 2, a more implicit affective measure (facial electromyography of musculus zygomaticus major and musculus corrugator supercilii) served as the dependent variable. Stronger suboptimal than optimal affective priming was found in both experiments. It is concluded that stronger suboptimal than optimal processing is characteristic for affective processing and that it can also be found when instructions are matched and when a more implicit measure is assessed.     

Suboptimal choice behavior by pigeons

Contrary to the law of effect and optimal foraging theory, pigeons show suboptimal choice behavior by choosing an alternative that provides 20% reinforcement over another that provides 50% reinforcement. They choose the 20% reinforcement alternative—in which 20% of the time, that choice results in a stimulus that always predicts reinforcement, and 80% of the time, it results in another stimulus that predicts its absence—rather than the 50% reinforcement alternative, which results in one of two stimuli, each of which predicts reinforcement 50% of the time. This choice behavior may be related to suboptimal human monetary gambling behavior, because in both cases, the organism overemphasizes the infrequent occurrence of the winning event and underemphasizes the more frequent occurrence of the losing event.     

First‐perspective alignment effects in a computer‐simulated environment

In Experiment 1, participants explored two desktop, virtual environments (VEs), each comprising three city streets connected at right angles; for each participant one VE was open and one was enclosed. Following the first VE exploration, orientation estimates to remembered test locations were most accurate when participants imagined themselves aligned, rather than 90° misaligned or 180° or contra‐aligned, with the first part of the route. In the second VE, the effect was attenuated and the data pattern conformed to that anticipated from an orientation‐free memory. Experiment 2 followed the procedure of Experiment 1, but omitted the alignment tests after the first VE; following the second VE exploration, orientation estimates presented a similar pattern to those in first test of Experiment 1. These data are discussed in terms of cognitive load.     

Decision making under uncertainty: a comparison of simple scalability, fixed-sample, and sequential-sampling models

The purpose of this article is to investigate the learning and memory processes involved in decision making under uncertainty. In two different experiments, subjects were given a choice between a certain alternative that produced a single known payoff and an uncertain alternative that produced a normal distribution of payoffs. Initially this distribution was unknown, and in the first experiment it was learned through feedback from past decisions, whereas in the second experiment it was learned by observing sample outcomes. In the first experiment, a response deadline was used to limit the amount of time available for making a decision. In the second experiment, an observation cost was used to limit the number of samples that could be purchased. The mean and variance of the uncertain alternative and the value of the certain alternative were factorially manipulated to study their joint effects on choice probability, choice response time (Experiment 1), and number of observations purchased (Experiment 2). Algebraic-deterministic theories developed for decision making with simple gambles fail to explain the present results. Two new models are developed and tested--fixed- and sequential-sampling models--that attempt to describe the learning and memory processes involved in decision making under uncertainty.     

决策过程中的调节匹配效应及其机制

以大学生为被试,运用实验法探讨了决策过程中调节定向与信息搜索模式之间的匹配效应及其机制。结果显示：(1) 促进定向组被试决策时更偏好基于属性的信息搜索模式,而预防定向组被试决策时更偏好基于选项的信息搜索模式;(2)当两种调节定向组被试分别使用各自所偏好的信息搜索模式制定决策时,达成了调节匹配,相比调节不匹配,这种匹配使被试对其所做选择给出了更积极的评价,即出现了调节匹配效应;(3)加工流畅性可以部分地解释这种调节匹配效应。     

Making a good decision: value from fit

The classic answer to what makes a decision good concerns outcomes. A good decision has high outcome benefits (it is worthwhile) and low outcome costs (it is worth it). I propose that, independent of outcomes or value from worth, people experience a regulatory fit when they use goal pursuit means that fit their regulatory orientation, and this regulatory fit increases the value of what they are doing. The following postulates of this value from fit proposal are examined: (a) People will be more inclined toward goal means that have higher regulatory fit, (b) people's motivation during goal pursuit will be stronger when regulatory fit is higher, (c) people's (prospective) feelings about a choice they might make will be more positive for a desirable choice and more negative for an undesirable choice when regulatory fit is higher, (d) people's (retrospective) evaluations of past decisions or goal pursuits will be more positive when regulatory fit was higher, and (e) people will assign higher value to an object that was chosen with higher regulatory fit. Studies testing each of these postulates support the value-from-fit proposal. How value from fit can enhance or diminish the value of goal pursuits and the quality of life itself is discussed.     

Spatial exploration patterns determine navigation efficiency: trade-off between memory demands and distance travelled

A total of 41 participants explored a novel square-shaped environment containing five identical boxes each hiding a visually distinct object. After an initial free exploration the participants were required to locate the objects first in a predetermined and subsequently in an optional order task. Two distinct exploration strategies emerged: Participants explored either along the main axes of the room (axial), or in a more spatially spread, circular pattern around the edges of the room (circular). These initial exploration strategies influenced the optimality of spatial navigation performance in the subsequent optional order task. The results reflect a trade-off between memory demands and distance efficiency. The more sequential axial strategy resulted in fewer demands on spatial memory but required more distance to be travelled. The circular strategy was more demanding on memory but required less subsequent travelling distance. The findings are discussed in terms of spatial knowledge acquisition and optimality of strategy representations.     

Overcoming unlearned response biases: delayed escape following errors facilitates acquisition of win-stay and win-shift working memory water-escape tasks in rats

Previous research has demonstrated that perseveration in escape situations is an unlearned response bias of rats and mice which is difficult to overcome. In Experiment I, Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to a criterion of nine correct choices in 10 consecutive trials in a win-stay working memory water-escape task wherein an escape platform was hidden in one of two compartments. Subjects were given a forced choice on an Information Trial followed by a free choice on a Test Trial 5 min later. Subjects who were given a 30-s forced swim in the incorrect section following errors on the Test Trial showed faster acquisition and less use of response perseveration than control subjects. In Experiment II, the delayed escape procedure was used to compare acquisition of win-stay and win-shift strategies. Contrary to previous research both groups learned the tasks, although the win-stay group showed better performance. It is concluded that unlearned response biases of perseverating and returning to previous escape sites can be overcome if experimental conditions are appropriately arranged.