Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Efficient coding of subjective value

Rafael Polania, Michael Woodford, Christian Ruff
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/358317
Rafael Polania
ETH Zurich;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: rafael.polania@hest.ethz.ch
Michael Woodford
Columbia University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Christian Ruff
University of Zurich
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Preference-based decisions are essential for survival, for instance when deciding what we should (not) eat. Despite their importance, choices based on preferences are surprisingly variable and can appear irrational in ways that have defied mechanistic explanations. Here we propose that subjective valuation results from an inference process that accounts for the information structure of values in the environment and that maximizes information in value representations in line with demands imposed by limited coding resources. A model of this inference process explains the variability in both subjective value reports and preference-based choices, and predicts a new preference illusion that we validate with empirical data. Interestingly, the same model also explains the level of confidence associated with these reports. Our results imply that preference-based decisions reflect information-maximizing transmission and statistically optimal decoding of subjective values by a limited-capacity system. These findings provide a unified account of how humans perceive and valuate the environment to optimally guide behavior.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
  • Posted June 29, 2018.

Download PDF

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Efficient coding of subjective value
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
Efficient coding of subjective value
Rafael Polania, Michael Woodford, Christian Ruff
bioRxiv 358317; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/358317
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Technorati logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Connotea logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Efficient coding of subjective value
Rafael Polania, Michael Woodford, Christian Ruff
bioRxiv 358317; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/358317

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (680)
  • Biochemistry (926)
  • Bioengineering (569)
  • Bioinformatics (5038)
  • Biophysics (1612)
  • Cancer Biology (1139)
  • Cell Biology (1577)
  • Clinical Trials (58)
  • Developmental Biology (1071)
  • Ecology (1767)
  • Epidemiology (887)
  • Evolutionary Biology (3874)
  • Genetics (2665)
  • Genomics (3470)
  • Immunology (673)
  • Microbiology (2679)
  • Molecular Biology (980)
  • Neuroscience (7009)
  • Paleontology (45)
  • Pathology (138)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (242)
  • Physiology (315)
  • Plant Biology (972)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (275)
  • Synthetic Biology (414)
  • Systems Biology (1416)
  • Zoology (173)