Zoology Department, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 5;107(1):508-12. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0907250107. Epub 2009 Dec 4.
A core problem of decision theories is that although decisionmakers' preferences depend on learning, their choices could be driven either by learned representations of the physical properties of each alternative (for instance reward sizes) or of the benefit (utility and fitness) experienced from them. Physical properties are independent of the subject's state and context, but utility depends on both. We show that starlings' choices are better explained by memory for context-dependent utility than by representations of the alternatives' physical properties, even when the decisionmakers' state is controlled and they have accurate knowledge about the options' physical properties. Our results support the potential universality of utility-driven preference control.
决策理论的一个核心问题是，尽管决策者的偏好取决于学习，但他们的选择可能受到对每种选择的物理属性（例如奖励大小）或从它们中获得的收益（效用和适应性）的学习表示的驱动。物理属性与主体的状态和环境无关，但效用取决于两者。我们表明，即使决策者的状态受到控制，并且他们对选项的物理属性有准确的了解，麻雀的选择也可以通过对环境相关效用的记忆得到更好的解释，而不是通过对选择的物理属性的表示。我们的研究结果支持了效用驱动偏好控制的潜在普遍性。
