Are we really Bayesian? Probabilistic inference shows sub-optimal knowledge transfer.

ABSTRACT: Numerous studies have found that the Bayesian framework, which formulates the optimal integration of the knowledge of the world (i.e. prior) and current sensory evidence (i.e. likelihood), captures human behaviours sufficiently well. However, there are debates regarding whether humans use precise but cognitively demanding Bayesian computations for behaviours. Across two studies, we trained participants to estimate hidden locations of a target drawn from priors with different levels of uncertainty. In each trial, scattered dots provided noisy likelihood information about the target location. Participants showed that they learned the priors and combined prior and likelihood information to infer target locations in a Bayes fashion. We then introduced a transfer condition presenting a trained

SUBMITTER: Lin CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10798629 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature