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Related Experiment Video

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Humans Select Subgoals That Balance Immediate and Future Cognitive Costs During Physical Assembly.

Felix J Binder1, Marcelo G Mattar2, David J Kirsh1

  • 1Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego.

Cognitive Science
|November 5, 2025
PubMed
Summary

People solving complex problems, like building virtual block towers, prioritize subgoals that balance progress with effort. This cognitive strategy helps efficiently manage computational resources for planning and problem-solving.

Keywords:
Decision‐makingPhysical reasoningPlanningProblem solvingTask decomposition

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Artificial Intelligence

Background:

  • Humans frequently encounter complex assembly tasks requiring problem decomposition.
  • Understanding how people select subgoals is crucial for efficient problem-solving.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the principles guiding human subgoal selection in complex planning tasks.
  • To determine if people balance subgoal progress with computational effort.

Main Methods:

  • Participants engaged in virtual block tower construction tasks.
  • Computational models of planning and subgoal selection were developed.
  • Human behavior was compared against model predictions.

Main Results:

  • Participants differentiated subgoals based on computational cost, not just ambition.
  • Subgoal selection was driven by perceived effort and progress.
  • Evidence suggests consideration of both immediate and future computational costs.

Conclusions:

  • Human planning involves efficient cognitive resource allocation.
  • Subgoal selection balances immediate task demands with long-term problem-solving efficiency.
  • Findings inform models of human decision-making in complex, grounded tasks.