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Explicit knowledge of task structure is a primary determinant of human model-based action

Author

Listed:
  • Pedro Castro-Rodrigues

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    Champalimaud Foundation
    Universidade Nova de Lisboa
    Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa)

  • Thomas Akam

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    University of Oxford)

  • Ivar Snorasson

    (New York State Psychiatric Institute)

  • Marta Camacho

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    Champalimaud Foundation
    University of Cambridge)

  • Vitor Paixão

    (Champalimaud Foundation)

  • Ana Maia

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    Champalimaud Foundation
    Universidade Nova de Lisboa
    Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental)

  • J. Bernardo Barahona-Corrêa

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    Champalimaud Foundation
    Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

  • Peter Dayan

    (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
    The University of Tübingen)

  • H. Blair Simpson

    (New York State Psychiatric Institute
    Columbia University)

  • Rui M. Costa

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    Universidade Nova de Lisboa
    Columbia University)

  • Albino J. Oliveira-Maia

    (Champalimaud Foundation
    Champalimaud Foundation
    Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

Abstract

Explicit information obtained through instruction profoundly shapes human choice behaviour. However, this has been studied in computationally simple tasks, and it is unknown how model-based and model-free systems, respectively generating goal-directed and habitual actions, are affected by the absence or presence of instructions. We assessed behaviour in a variant of a computationally more complex decision-making task, before and after providing information about task structure, both in healthy volunteers and in individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive or other disorders. Initial behaviour was model-free, with rewards directly reinforcing preceding actions. Model-based control, employing predictions of states resulting from each action, emerged with experience in a minority of participants, and less in those with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Providing task structure information strongly increased model-based control, similarly across all groups. Thus, in humans, explicit task structural knowledge is a primary determinant of model-based reinforcement learning and is most readily acquired from instruction rather than experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro Castro-Rodrigues & Thomas Akam & Ivar Snorasson & Marta Camacho & Vitor Paixão & Ana Maia & J. Bernardo Barahona-Corrêa & Peter Dayan & H. Blair Simpson & Rui M. Costa & Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, 2022. "Explicit knowledge of task structure is a primary determinant of human model-based action," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 1126-1141, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:6:y:2022:i:8:d:10.1038_s41562-022-01346-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01346-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Rémi Philippe & Rémi Janet & Koosha Khalvati & Rajesh P. N. Rao & Daeyeol Lee & Jean-Claude Dreher, 2024. "Neurocomputational mechanisms involved in adaptation to fluctuating intentions of others," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.

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