Goal-Directed and Habitual Processes

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Goal-Directed and Habitual Processes

Here is an alternative to the Simple Picture and the story about intention we were just telling ...

Start with a simple history ... this might explain why you press a button now.

I set things up so that it works like this ...

outcomes:

press red → electric shock → pain experience

press green → chocolate flake → pleasure experience

Your learning goes like this ...

stimulus–action associations:

buttons : press red [punished ∴ becomes weaker]

buttons : press green [rewarded ∴ becomes stronger]

stronger stimulus–action association ∴ action is more likely

Now suppose I train you with just one button.

One interesting thing here is that, after training, you will continue pushing that green button.

Even if I fill you with chocolate so that you do not want more, you will likely continue to push the green button.

no intentions here

‘instrumental behavior is controlled by two dissociable processes: a goal-directed and an habitual process’

‘an action is goal-directed if it is mediated by

the interaction of

a representation of the causal relationship between the action and outcome

and

a representation of the current incentive value, or utility, of the outcome

in a way that rationalizes the action’ Dickinson (2016, p. 177).

belief desire

stimulus → action → outcome

a → b = a follows b

may be rewarding; if it is ...

When the action is performed in the presence of the simulus, the connection is strengthened (or ‘reinforced’) if the action is rewarded.

If the connection is strong enough, the presence of the stimulus will cause the action to occur.

habitual process

Action occurs in the presence of Stimulus.

Outcome follows action

Agent is rewarded

Stimulus-Action Link is strengthened due to reward

Given Stimulus, will Action occur? It depends on the strength of the Stimulus-Action Link.

Let’s check we all understand the key terms here.

Action may be a complex, coordinated instrumental action, such as pressing a lever.

What is the relation between an instrumental action and the outcome (or outcomes) to which it is directed?

So I am going to try to show that it can be habitual processes, not just intentions.

On the face of it this may be puzzling given that I have been emphasizing that, in the case of habitual processes, the outcome only matters because it generates a history of rewards.

It is the stimulus–action link that matters for habitual processes, not any intention about an outcomes.

So how could the action be directed to a particular outcome in virtue of an habitual process?

Can make it a bit more intuitive by returning to an action that is clearly instrumental.

Snack machine from earlier: example of instrument action was pressing a lever to get a snack.

Now I want to say that this kind of behaviour can be explained in humans by habitual processes. We will see evidence concerning this next week.

What is the relation between an instrumental action and the outcome (or outcomes) to which it is directed?

An instrumental action is an action that happens in order to bring about an outcome.

What is the relation between an instrumental action and the outcome or outcomes to which it is directed?

habitual

The outcome is related to the action via their history.

Action was caused by stimulus–action link

Stimulus–action link exists because of a rewarding Outcome in the past

Habitual processes exist to enable the agent to bring such Outcomes about.

What is the relation between an instrumental action and the outcome (or outcomes) to which it is directed?

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Goal-Directed and Habitual Processes

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