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People construct simplified mental representations to plan.

Mark K Ho1,2, David Abel3,4, Carlos G Correa5

  • 1Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. mho@princeton.edu.

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Human planning is efficient due to flexible task representations, not just fixed ones. People strategically simplify problems, optimizing cognitive resources for effective planning and action.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Human planning is characterized by remarkable efficiency and flexibility, even with limited cognitive resources.
  • Traditional models assume fixed task representations and heuristic-based planning.
  • This overlooks the dynamic nature of how humans represent and simplify problems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and computationally model a novel account of planning.
  • To investigate the role of controlled task representation in problem-solving.
  • To demonstrate how strategic simplification enhances cognitive efficiency.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a computational model for task representation control.
  • Conducting a series of preregistered behavioral experiments.
  • Analyzing participants' strategic balancing of representation complexity and planning utility.

Main Results:

  • Task representations are not fixed but are actively controlled.
  • Problem simplification through controlled representations is subject to online cognitive control.
  • Individuals optimally balance representational complexity with its utility for planning.

Conclusions:

  • Flexible task representation and strategic simplification are key to efficient human planning.
  • This approach highlights how cognitive control optimizes resource allocation.
  • Understanding controlled representations offers insights into effective problem-solving strategies.