BEACON Seminar: Some neuro-computational models of social decision-making and learning
If you would like to chat with the speaker on the day, please do get in touch with Matthew Rushworth at matthew.rushworth@psy.ox.ac.uk.
ABSTRACT

In social interactions, humans often resort to heuristic decision-making and learning strategies. These strategies can be described with reinforcement learning models and can be linked to parts of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC).

First, I will present a series of studies that specify how humans combine optimal and heuristic solutions to maximize rewards for themselves and for others in multistep decision scenarios. Model-based analyses of fMRI data suggest a role of the MPFC in the computation of the employed policies and of the uncertainty associated with relying on these policies.

Second, I will describe experiments showing how humans learn about other people’s character traits. The best-fitting models combine principles derived from reinforcement learning algorithms with participants’ world knowledge about the distributions and interrelations of different character traits. I will present an fMRI study testing if these interrelations between character traits are represented as “grid-like code” in the MPFC.
Taken together, the to-be-presented projects aim at providing neuro-computational accounts of the trade-offs in complex social decision-making and learning processes. I will briefly outline ongoing and future research projects that build on these insights to elucidate how social decision-making and learning can go awry in psychiatric populations.
Date: 22 August 2023, 13:00 (Tuesday, 18th week, Trinity 2023)
Venue: New Radcliffe House, Walton Street OX2 6NW
Venue Details: Seminar Room, New Radcliffe House (2nd Floor), Department of Experimental Psychology, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG
Speaker: Christoph Korn (Heidelberg University)
Organising department: Department of Experimental Psychology
Organisers: Nima Khalighinejad (University of Oxford), Lauren Burgeno (University of Oxford)
Host: Professor Matthew Rushworth (University of Oxford)
Part of: Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience (BEACON)
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Regula Dent