When receiving a reward after a sequence of multiple events, how do we determine which event caused the reward? This problem, known as temporal credit assignment, can be difficult for humans to solve given the temporal uncertainty in the environment. Research to date has attempted to isolate dimensions of delay and reward during decision-making, but algorithmic solutions to temporal learning problems and the effect of uncertainty on learning remain underexplored. To further our understanding, we adapted a reward learning task that creates a temporal credit assignment problem by combining sequentially delayed rewards, intervening events, and varying uncertainty via the amount of information presented during feedback. Using computational modeling, two learning strategies were developed: an eligibility trace, whereby previously selected actions are updated as a function of the temporal sequence, and a tabular update, whereby only systematically related past actions (rather than unrelated intervening events) are updated. We hypothesized that reduced information uncertainty would correlate with increased use of the tabular strategy, given the model’s capacity to incorporate additional feedback information. Both models effectively learned the task, and predicted choices made by participants (N = 142) as well as specific behavioral signatures of credit assignment. Consistent with our hypothesis, the tabular model outperformed the eligibility model under low information uncertainty, as evidenced by more accurate predictions of participants’ behavior and an increase in tabular weight. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms implemented by humans to solve temporal credit assignment and adapt their strategy in varying environments. <<<

Lachlan McGinness, Yutong Ma, Mohammad Attar, Andrew Carse, Yeming Chen, Thomas Green, Jeong-Yeon Ha, Yanbai Jin, Amy McWilliams, Theirry Panggabean, Zhengyu Peng, Jing Ru, Jiacheng She, Lujin Sun, Jialin Wang, Zilun Wei, Jiayuan Zhu <<<

We present Particle Builder, an online board game which teaches students about concepts from the Standard Model of Particle Physics at a high school level. This short activity resulted in a gain of 0.16, indicating that students learned a significant amount of particle physics knowledge. Students found the activity was more engaging and less difficult than a normal classroom lesson. <<<