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Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
Published on: September 16, 2015
Do not Bet on the Unknown Versus Try to Find Out More: Estimation Uncertainty and "Unexpected Uncertainty" Both
Elise Payzan-Lenestour1, Peter Bossaerts
1Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales Sydney, NSW, Australia ; California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Little is known about how humans solve the exploitation/exploration trade-off. In particular, the evidence for uncertainty-driven exploration is mixed. The current study proposes a novel hypothesis of exploration that helps reconcile prior findings that may seem contradictory at first. According to this hypothesis, uncertainty-driven exploration involves a dilemma between two motives: (i) to speed up learning about the unknown, which may beget novel reward opportunities; (ii) to avoid the unknown because it is potentially dangerous. We provide evidence for our hypothesis using both behavioral and simulated data, and briefly point to recent evidence that the brain differentiates between these two motives.
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