How Humans Use Shortcuts in Their Brains to Make Decisions

Ever wondered how people make decisions? It turns out, our brains use a clever trick called the Successor Representation (SR). This trick helps us avoid the hassle of imagining every little step into the future. Instead, our brains group future states together and make predictions over multiple steps. This approach is called temporal abstraction. We know humans use this tactic, but understanding how each person does it differently and adapts to changes is still a mystery.

Scientists created a game to watch how people use SR while learning. They found that different folks use a mix of SR and another method called model-based learning. Some people rely heavily on SR, while others don't. Interestingly, when the game was tweaked to make future states harder to predict, people used SR less. This shows that our brains are smart and adjust strategies based on the situation. This study adds to the pile of evidence showing that our brains pick and choose decision-making strategies wisely.

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