Disentangling the contribution of individual and social learning processes in human advice-taking behavior.

The study of social learning examines how individuals learn from others by means of observation, imitation, or compliance with advice. However, it still remains largely unknown whether social learning processes have a distinct contribution to behavior, independent from non-social trial-and-error learning that often occurs simultaneously. 153 participants completed a reinforcement learning task, where they were asked to make choices to gain rewards.

Computational mechanisms underlying latent value updating of unchosen actions.

Current studies suggest that individuals estimate the value of their choices based on observed feedback. Here, we ask whether individuals also update the value of their unchosen actions, even when the associated feedback remains unknown. One hundred seventy-eight individuals completed a multi-armed bandit task, making choices to gain rewards.

Working memory capacity estimates moderate value learning for outcome-irrelevant features.

To establish accurate action-outcome associations in the environment, individuals must refrain from assigning value to outcome-irrelevant features. However, studies have largely ignored the role of attentional control processes on action value updating. In the current study, we examined the extent to which working memory-a system that can filter and block the processing of irrelevant information in one's mind-also filters outcome-irrelevant information during value-based learning.