Formalizing planning and information search in naturalistic decision-making
Laurence T. Hunt, Nathaniel D. Daw, Paula Kaanders, Malcolm A. MacIver, Ugurcan Mugan, Emmanuel Procyk, A. David Redish, Eleonora Russo, Jacqueline Scholl, Kimberly Stachenfeld, Charles Wilson, Nils Kolling
Abstract
Decisions made by mammals and birds are often temporally extended. They require planning and sampling of decision-relevant information. Our understanding of such decision-making remains in its infancy compared with simpler, forced-choice paradigms. However, recent advances in algorithms supporting planning and information search provide a lens through which we can explain neural and behavioral data in these tasks. We review these advances to obtain a clearer understanding for why planning and curiosity originated in certain species but not others; how activity in the medial temporal lobe, prefrontal and cingulate cortices may support these behaviors; and how planning and information search may complement each other as means to improve future action selection. Decision-making often involves temporally extended planning and information search. This Review discusses recent theoretical frameworks that have been used to study such naturalistic decision-making and its neural basis.