Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.

Our choices are typically accompanied by a feeling of confidence-an internal estimate that they are correct. Correctness, however, depends on our goals. For example, exploration-exploitation problems entail a tension between short- and long-term goals: finding out about the value of one option could...

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Main Authors: Oleg Solopchuk, Peter Dayan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304923
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author Oleg Solopchuk
Peter Dayan
author_facet Oleg Solopchuk
Peter Dayan
author_sort Oleg Solopchuk
collection DOAJ
description Our choices are typically accompanied by a feeling of confidence-an internal estimate that they are correct. Correctness, however, depends on our goals. For example, exploration-exploitation problems entail a tension between short- and long-term goals: finding out about the value of one option could mean foregoing another option that is apparently more rewarding. Here, we hypothesised that after making an exploratory choice that involves sacrificing an immediate gain, subjects will be confident that they chose a better option for long-term rewards, but not confident that it was a better option for immediate reward. We asked 250 subjects across 2 experiments to perform a varying-horizon two-arm bandits task, in which we asked them to rate their confidence that their choice would lead to more immediate, or more total reward. Confirming previous studies, we found a significant increase in exploration with increasing trial horizon, but, contrary to our predictions, we found no difference between confidence in immediate or total reward. This dissociation is further evidence for a separation in the mechanisms involved in choices and confidence judgements.
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spelling doaj-art-faa04de35f8548bfaa1ae54a346b67d22025-01-17T05:31:31ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01201e030492310.1371/journal.pone.0304923Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.Oleg SolopchukPeter DayanOur choices are typically accompanied by a feeling of confidence-an internal estimate that they are correct. Correctness, however, depends on our goals. For example, exploration-exploitation problems entail a tension between short- and long-term goals: finding out about the value of one option could mean foregoing another option that is apparently more rewarding. Here, we hypothesised that after making an exploratory choice that involves sacrificing an immediate gain, subjects will be confident that they chose a better option for long-term rewards, but not confident that it was a better option for immediate reward. We asked 250 subjects across 2 experiments to perform a varying-horizon two-arm bandits task, in which we asked them to rate their confidence that their choice would lead to more immediate, or more total reward. Confirming previous studies, we found a significant increase in exploration with increasing trial horizon, but, contrary to our predictions, we found no difference between confidence in immediate or total reward. This dissociation is further evidence for a separation in the mechanisms involved in choices and confidence judgements.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304923
spellingShingle Oleg Solopchuk
Peter Dayan
Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.
PLoS ONE
title Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.
title_full Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.
title_fullStr Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.
title_full_unstemmed Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.
title_short Multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice.
title_sort multifaceted confidence in exploratory choice
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304923
work_keys_str_mv AT olegsolopchuk multifacetedconfidenceinexploratorychoice
AT peterdayan multifacetedconfidenceinexploratorychoice