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Risk-sensitivity and the mean-variance trade-off: decision making in sensorimotor control
Arne J Nagengast1, Daniel A Braun, Daniel M Wolpert
1Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK. arne.nagengast@gmail.com
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|January 7, 2011
Summary
Sensorimotor control may involve risk-sensitivity, balancing movement effort
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Motor Control
Background:
- Traditional sensorimotor control models assume optimization of average movement cost.
- Recent findings suggest decision-making considers risk (variability) alongside mean payoff.
- This challenges the purely average-cost optimization hypothesis in motor control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if risk-sensitivity in sensorimotor control arises from a mean-variance trade-off in movement costs.
- To determine how individuals balance fixed effort against variable effort options.
Main Methods:
- A novel motor task was designed with a choice between a sure, fixed-effort action and a risky, variable-effort action.
- Participants' choices were analyzed by systematically varying the mean effort of the risky option while keeping its variance constant.
- Indifference points were identified where participants chose equally between the sure and risky options.
Main Results:
- Most participants exhibited risk-sensitive behavior, indicating a mean-variance trade-off in effort.
- Individual risk preferences (risk-seeking, risk-averse, risk-neutral) were identified based on their choices.
- The results support the integration of risk assessment into sensorimotor decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Sensorimotor control appears to incorporate risk-sensitivity, extending beyond simple average-cost optimization.
- A mean-variance trade-off model effectively explains observed motor control behaviors under uncertainty.
- These findings highlight the necessity of including risk-sensitivity in computational models of sensorimotor control.
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