Effects of blocked versus interleaved training on relative value learning

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Neuroscience
• Decision Making

Background:

• Relative value learning is crucial in reinforcement learning.
• Prior research indicates blocked training may enhance this learning compared to interleaved training.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate how blocked versus interleaved training affects relative value learning.
• Distinguish between different contextual encoding models.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a choice task to differentiate contextual encoding models.
• Employed model-free and model-based analyses.

Main Results:

• Blocked training led to behavior consistent with a reference point model, encoding outcomes relative to contextual average reward.
• Interleaved training behavior was best described by a range-frequency encoding model.

Conclusions:

• Contextual presentation format influences the type of relative value learning.
• Blocked training aids tracking of contextual statistics for value relativization.
• Interleaved training may favor range-frequency encoding for memory efficiency.