@article{gray14topiCS,
title = {Does Cognition Deteriorate with Age or is it Enhanced by Experience?},
author = { Wayne D. Gray and Thomas Hills},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tops.12080},
doi = {10.1111/tops.12080},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-01-01},
journal = {Topics in Cognitive Science},
volume = {6},
number = {1},
pages = {2-4},
keywords = {Cognitive aging, Cognitive functioning, Domain knowledge, Longitudinal change, Normal aging, Rational analysis},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{sims13psycRvw,
title = {Melioration as Rational Choice: Sequential Decision Making in Uncertain Environments},
author = { Chris R. Sims and Hansj"org Neth and Robert A. Jacobs and Wayne D. Gray},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-01-01},
journal = {Psychological Review},
volume = {120},
number = {1},
pages = {139-154},
abstract = {Melioration -- defined as choosing a lesser, local gain over a greater longer term gain -- is a behavioral tendency that people and pigeons share. As such, the empirical occurrence of meliorating behavior has frequently been interpreted as evidence that the mechanisms of human choice violate the norms of economic rationality. In some environments, the relationship between actions and outcomes is known. In this case, the rationality of choice behavior can be evaluated in terms of how successfully it maximizes utility given knowledge of the environmental contingencies. In most complex environments, however, the relationship between actions and future outcomes is uncertain and must be learned from experience. When the difficulty of this learning challenge is taken into account, it is not evident that melioration represents suboptimal choice behavior. In the present article, we examine human performance in a sequential decision-making experiment that is known to induce meliorating behavior. In keeping with previous results using this paradigm, we find that the majority of participants in the experiment fail to adopt the optimal decision strategy and instead demonstrate a significant bias toward melioration. To explore the origins of this behavior, we develop a rational analysis (Anderson, 1990) of the learning problem facing individuals in uncertain decision environments. Our analysis demonstrates that an unbiased learner would adopt melioration as the optimal response strategy for maximizing long-term gain. We suggest that many documented cases of melioration can be reinterpreted not as irrational choice but rather as globally optimal choice under uncertainty.},
keywords = {Bayesian modeling, Melioration, Rational analysis, sequential decision making},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Melioration -- defined as choosing a lesser, local gain over a greater longer term gain -- is a behavioral tendency that people and pigeons share. As such, the empirical occurrence of meliorating behavior has frequently been interpreted as evidence that the mechanisms of human choice violate the norms of economic rationality. In some environments, the relationship between actions and outcomes is known. In this case, the rationality of choice behavior can be evaluated in terms of how successfully it maximizes utility given knowledge of the environmental contingencies. In most complex environments, however, the relationship between actions and future outcomes is uncertain and must be learned from experience. When the difficulty of this learning challenge is taken into account, it is not evident that melioration represents suboptimal choice behavior. In the present article, we examine human performance in a sequential decision-making experiment that is known to induce meliorating behavior. In keeping with previous results using this paradigm, we find that the majority of participants in the experiment fail to adopt the optimal decision strategy and instead demonstrate a significant bias toward melioration. To explore the origins of this behavior, we develop a rational analysis (Anderson, 1990) of the learning problem facing individuals in uncertain decision environments. Our analysis demonstrates that an unbiased learner would adopt melioration as the optimal response strategy for maximizing long-term gain. We suggest that many documented cases of melioration can be reinterpreted not as irrational choice but rather as globally optimal choice under uncertainty.
Are eye movements involved in cued target recall from repeating spatial contexts? Incollection
McNamara, D S; Trafton, J G (Ed.): The 29th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, pp. 1515-1520, Cognitive Science Society, Austin, TX, 2007.
@incollection{myers07csc,
title = {Are eye movements involved in cued target recall from repeating spatial contexts?},
author = { Christopher W. Myers and Wayne D. Gray},
editor = {McNamara, D. S. and Trafton, J. G.},
year = {2007},
date = {2007-01-01},
booktitle = {The 29th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
pages = {1515-1520},
publisher = {Cognitive Science Society},
address = {Austin, TX},
abstract = {Across two experiments we set out to determine if visual scans adapt to repeatedly searched stimuli. We adopt a paradigm reported to produce cueing effects from repeatedly searching the same stimulus (Chun & Jiang, 1998). We discover that eye movements may be useful to the cueing process, and that the cueing phenomenon is finicky.},
keywords = {contextual cueing, Rational analysis, scanpath, soft constraints, visual scanning},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Across two experiments we set out to determine if visual scans adapt to repeatedly searched stimuli. We adopt a paradigm reported to produce cueing effects from repeatedly searching the same stimulus (Chun & Jiang, 1998). We discover that eye movements may be useful to the cueing process, and that the cueing phenomenon is finicky.
