TY - GEN
T1 - The pigeon as particle filter
AU - Daw, Nathaniel D.
AU - Courville, Aaron C.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Although theorists have interpreted classical conditioning as a laboratory model of Bayesian belief updating, a recent reanalysis showed that the key features that theoretical models capture about learning are artifacts of averaging over subjects. Rather than learning smoothly to asymptote (reflecting, according to Bayesian models, the gradual tradeoff from prior to posterior as data accumulate), subjects learn suddenly and their predictions fluctuate perpetually. We suggest that abrupt and unstable learning can be modeled by assuming subjects are conducting inference using sequential Monte Carlo sampling with a small number of samples- one, in our simulations. Ensemble behavior resembles exact Bayesian models since, as in particle filters, it averages over many samples. Further, the model is capable of exhibiting sophisticated behaviors like retrospective revaluation at the ensemble level, even given minimally sophisticated individuals that do not track uncertainty in their beliefs over trials.
AB - Although theorists have interpreted classical conditioning as a laboratory model of Bayesian belief updating, a recent reanalysis showed that the key features that theoretical models capture about learning are artifacts of averaging over subjects. Rather than learning smoothly to asymptote (reflecting, according to Bayesian models, the gradual tradeoff from prior to posterior as data accumulate), subjects learn suddenly and their predictions fluctuate perpetually. We suggest that abrupt and unstable learning can be modeled by assuming subjects are conducting inference using sequential Monte Carlo sampling with a small number of samples- one, in our simulations. Ensemble behavior resembles exact Bayesian models since, as in particle filters, it averages over many samples. Further, the model is capable of exhibiting sophisticated behaviors like retrospective revaluation at the ensemble level, even given minimally sophisticated individuals that do not track uncertainty in their beliefs over trials.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84858769306&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84858769306
SN - 160560352X
SN - 9781605603520
T3 - Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 20 - Proceedings of the 2007 Conference
BT - Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 20 - Proceedings of the 2007 Conference
T2 - 21st Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, NIPS 2007
Y2 - 3 December 2007 through 6 December 2007
ER -