Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.
Graduate School of Brain Science, Doshisha University, 1-3, Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe-shi, Kyoto, 610-0394, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 2;13(1):14417. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-41717-x.
Metacognition is the ability to adaptively control one's behavior by referring to one's own cognitive processes. It is thought to contribute to learning in situations where there is insufficient information available from the environment. Information-seeking behavior is a type of metacognition in which one confirms the necessary information only when one does not have the necessary and sufficient information to accomplish a task. The rats were required to respond to a nose poke hole on one wall of the experimental box for a certain period of time and then move to the opposite side at a specific time. Unfortunately, they were unable to match the timing when responding to the hole on one side. Therefore, they had to look back and confirm that now was the right time. The results obtained by analyzing these looking-back movements using a motion capture system showed that this behavior occurred frequently and rapidly in situations of insufficient information, such as in the early stages of learning, but was hardly observed and became slower as learning progressed. These results suggest that rats can adjust their behavior in response to a lack of information more flexibly than previously assumed.
元认知是一种通过参考自身认知过程来适应性地控制自身行为的能力。它被认为有助于在环境中提供的信息量不足的情况下进行学习。信息寻求行为是元认知的一种类型，即在没有完成任务所需的必要和充分信息时，仅确认必要的信息。老鼠被要求在实验箱的一侧墙上的一个鼻戳孔前响应一定的时间，然后在特定的时间移动到另一侧。不幸的是，它们无法匹配响应一侧孔的时间。因此，它们必须回头确认现在是正确的时间。通过使用运动捕捉系统分析这些回头动作获得的结果表明，在信息量不足的情况下，这种行为会频繁且迅速地发生，例如在学习的早期阶段，但几乎观察不到，随着学习的进展变得更慢。这些结果表明，老鼠可以比以前认为的更灵活地调整自身行为以应对信息不足的情况。
