RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Strategic exploration in human adaptive control
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 110486
DO 10.1101/110486
A1 Eric Schulz
A1 Edgar D. Klenske
A1 Neil R. Bramley
A1 Maarten Speekenbrink
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/05/09/110486.abstract
AB How do people explore in order to gain rewards in uncertain dynamical systems? Within a reinforcement learning paradigm, control normally involves trading off between exploration (i.e. trying out actions in order to gain more knowledge about the system) and exploitation (i.e. using current knowledge of the system to maximize reward). We study a novel control task in which participants must steer a boat on a grid, aiming to follow a path of high reward whilst learning how their actions affect the boat’s position. We find that participants explore strategically yet conservatively, exploring more when mistakes are less costly and practicing actions that will be required later on.