scholarly journals The effect of uncertainty and outcome probability on non-instrumental information seeking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Ryan Embrey ◽  
Shi Xian Liew ◽  
Ishaan Ghai ◽  
Ben R Newell
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Information Preference ◽  
Outcome Probability

People’s desire to seek or avoid information is not only influenced by the possible outcomes of an event, but the probability of those particular outcomes occurring. There are competing explanations however as to how and why people’s desire for non-instrumental information is affected by factors including expected value, probability of outcome, and a unique formulation of outcome uncertainty. Over two experiments, we find that people’s preference for non-instrumental information is positively correlated with probability when the outcome is positive (i.e., winning money) and negatively correlated when the outcome is negative (i.e., losing money). Furthermore, at the aggregate level, we find the probability of an outcome to be a better predictor of information preference than the expected value of the event or its outcome uncertainty.

scholarly journals Induction and Relief of Curiosity Elicit Parietal and Frontal Activity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke L. F. van Lieshout ◽  
Annelinde R. E. Vandenbroucke ◽  
Nils C. J. Müller ◽  
Roshan Cools ◽  
Floris P. de Lange
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Insular Cortex ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Information Uncertainty ◽  
World Model ◽  
Information Update ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Types Of Information

AbstractCuriosity is a basic biological drive, but little is known about its behavioral and neural mechanisms. We can be curious about several types of information. On the one hand, curiosity is a function of the expected value of information, serving primarily to help us maximize reward. On the other hand, curiosity can be a function of the uncertainty of information, helping us to update what we know. In the current studies, we aimed to disentangle the contribution of information uncertainty and expected value of rewards to curiosity in humans of either sex. To this end, we designed a lottery task in which uncertainty and expected value of trial outcomes were manipulated independently, and examined how neural activity and behavioral measures of curiosity were modulated by these factors. Curiosity increased linearly with increased outcome uncertainty, both when curiosity was explicitly probed as well as when it was implicitly tested by people’s willingness to wait. Increased expected value, however, did not strongly relate to these curiosity measures. Neuroimaging results showed greater BOLD response with increasing outcome uncertainty in parietal cortex at the time of curiosity induction. Outcome updating when curiosity was relieved resulted in an increased signal in the insula, orbitofrontal cortex and parietal cortex. Furthermore, the insula showed a linear increase corresponding to the size of the information update. These results suggest that curiosity is monotonically related to the uncertainty about one’s current world model, the induction and relief of which are associated with activity in parietal and insular cortices respectively.Significance statementHumans are curious by nature. When you hear your phone beep, you probably feel the urge to check the message right away, even though the message itself likely doesn’t give you a direct reward. In this study, we demonstrated that curiosity can be driven by outcome uncertainty, irrespective of reward. The induction of curiosity was accompanied by increased activity in the parietal cortex, whereas the information update at the time of curiosity relief was associated with activity in insular cortex. These findings advance our understanding of the behavioral and neural underpinnings of curiosity, which lies at the core of human information-seeking and serves to optimize the individual’s current world-model.

scholarly journals Curiosity or savouring? Information seeking is modulated by both uncertainty and valence

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257011
Author(s):  
Lieke L. F. van Lieshout ◽  
Iris J. Traast ◽  
Floris P. de Lange ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Outcome Valence ◽  
Uncertain Outcomes ◽  
Gains And Losses

Curiosity is pervasive in our everyday lives, but we know little about the factors that contribute to this drive. In the current study, we assessed whether curiosity about uncertain outcomes is modulated by the valence of the information, i.e. whether the information is good or bad news. Using a lottery task in which outcome uncertainty, expected value and outcome valence (gain versus loss) were manipulated independently, we found that curiosity is overall higher for gains compared with losses and that curiosity increased with increasing outcome uncertainty for both gains and losses. These effects of uncertainty and valence did not interact, indicating that the motivation to reduce uncertainty and the motivation to maximize positive information represent separate, independent drives.

scholarly journals Curiosity or savouring? Information seeking is modulated by both uncertainty and valence.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke van Lieshout ◽  
Iris Traast ◽  
Floris de Lange ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Negative Information ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
World Model ◽  
Outcome Valence ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Uncertain Outcomes ◽  
Gains And Losses

Curiosity is pervasive in our everyday lives, but little is known about its underlying mechanisms. In the current study, we assessed whether curiosity about uncertain outcomes is modulated by the valence of the information, i.e. whether the information is good or bad news. Using a lottery task in which outcome uncertainty, expected value and outcome valence (gain versus loss) were manipulated independently, we found that curiosity is overall higher for gains compared with losses. Surprisingly, curiosity increased with increasing outcome uncertainty for both gains and losses, contradicting models that posit that humans seek positive and avoid negative information. Curiosity thus follows from multiple drives, including a drive to improve our world model, as well as, separately, a drive to maximize positive information.

scholarly journals The dynamics of change in decision making under risk

Psihologija ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Milicevic ◽  
Dubravka Pavlicic ◽  
Aleksandar Kostic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prospect Theory ◽  
Expected Utility ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Decision Making Under Risk ◽  
Outcome Probability ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Way

The goal of this study was to investigate the dynamics of decision making under risk. In three experiments this dynamics have been explored with respect to probability of outcome and with respect to frame, i.e. the way the outcomes of the alternatives have been specified. The process of decision making was explored within a framework of expected utility and Prospect theory. The outcomes of alternatives as well as their probabilities were quantitatively specified (so that the expected value of a risk alternative was equal to the value of a non-risk alternative). The results of experiments indicate that the attitude towards risk (risk-proneness vs. risk-averseness) depends on the outcome probability and the way the outcomes were specified (i.e. positive/negative frame). It was also demonstrated that content strongly affects the choices made in decision making. This outcome is somewhat unexpected and requires additional empirical evaluation.

scholarly journals Does dopamine synthesis capacity predict individual variation in curiosity?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke L. F. van Lieshout ◽  
Ruben van den Bosch ◽  
Lieke Hofmans ◽  
Floris P. de Lange ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Outcome Valence ◽  
Different Types

SummaryCuriosity, which can be defined as “intrinsically motivated information-seeking”, is an important driving force in our everyday lives. Based on previous evidence demonstrating a link between information prediction errors and dopamine neuronal firing rates, we asked whether the drive to seek information varies with individual differences in dopamine synthesis capacity. In order to investigate this, we let participants perform a lottery task in which we independently manipulated outcome uncertainty, outcome valence (gains versus losses) and expected value, and asked participants to indicate their curiosity for each presented lottery. In a separate session, participants underwent an [18F]DOPA PET scan to quantify their dopamine synthesis capacity. We replicate previous behavioral results, showing that curiosity is a function of outcome uncertainty as well as outcome valence (gain versus loss). However, we found no evidence that curiosity or the sensitivity to outcome uncertainty, outcome valence and expected value was related to participants’ dopamine synthesis capacity in the ventral striatum, the caudate nucleus or the putamen. These findings stress the need for further studies into the role of dopamine in (different types of) curiosity.

scholarly journals Anxious and obsessive-compulsive traits are independently associated with valuation of non-instrumental information

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Bennett ◽  
Kiran Sutcliffe ◽  
Nicholas Poh-Jie Tan ◽  
Luke D. Smillie
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Costly Information ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Information Preference ◽  
Latent Traits ◽  
Future Outcomes ◽  
Gain Loss

AbstractAversion to uncertainty about the future has been proposed as a transdiagnostic trait underlying psychiatric diagnoses including obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalised anxiety. This association might explain the frequency of pathological information-seeking behaviours such as compulsive checking and reassurance-seeking in these disorders. Here we tested the behavioural predictions of this model using a non-instrumental information-seeking task that measured preferences for unusable information about future outcomes in different payout domains (gain, loss, and mixed gain/loss). We administered this task, along with a targeted battery of self-report questionnaires, to a general-population sample of 146 adult participants. Using computational cognitive modelling of choices to test competing theories of information valuation, we found evidence for a model in which preferences for costless and costly information about future outcomes were independent, and in which information preference was modulated by both outcome mean and outcome variance. Critically, we also found positive associations between a model parameter controlling preference for costly information and individual differences in latent traits of both anxiety and obsessive-compulsion. These associations were invariant across different payout domains, providing evidence that individuals high in obsessive-compulsive and anxious traits show a generalised increase in willingness-to-pay for unusable information about uncertain future outcomes, even though this behaviour reduces their expected future reward.

Foraging extends beyond food: Hoarding of mental energy and information seeking in response to uncertainty

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Alquist ◽  
Roy F. Baumeister
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Food Hoarding

AbstractWhen an environment is uncertain, humans and other animals benefit from preparing for and attempting to predict potential outcomes. People respond to uncertainty both by conserving mental energy on tasks unrelated to the source of the uncertainty and by increasing their attentiveness to information related to the uncertainty. This mental hoarding and foraging allow people to prepare in uncertain situations.

Information-Seeking on the Internet

Crisis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod Singaravelu ◽  
Anne Stewart ◽  
Joanna Adams ◽  
Sue Simkin ◽  
Keith Hawton
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Specific Advice ◽  
Restriction Sites ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Negative Tone

Abstract. Background: The Internet is used by young people at risk of self-harm to communicate, find information, and obtain support. Aims: We aimed to identify and analyze websites potentially accessed by these young people. Method: Six search terms, relating to self-harm/suicide and depression, were input into four search engines. Websites were analyzed for access, content/purpose, and tone. Results: In all, 314 websites were included in the analysis. Most could be accessed without restriction. Sites accessed by self-harm/suicide search terms were mostly positive or preventive in tone, whereas sites accessed by the term ways to kill yourself tended to have a negative tone. Information about self-harm methods was common with specific advice on how to self-harm in 15.8% of sites, encouragement of self-harm in 7.0%, and evocative images of self-harm/suicide in 20.7%. Advice on how to get help was given in 56.1% of sites. Conclusion: Websites relating to suicide or self-harm are easily accessed. Many sites are potentially helpful. However, a significant proportion of sites are potentially harmful through normalizing or encouraging self-harm. Enquiry regarding Internet use should be routinely included while assessing young people at risk.

The Impact of a Highly Publicized Celebrity Suicide on Suicide-Related Online Information Seeking

Crisis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Arendt ◽  
Sebastian Scherr
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Search Queries ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Celebrity Suicide ◽  
Online Information Seeking ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Background: Research has already acknowledged the importance of the Internet in suicide prevention as search engines such as Google are increasingly used in seeking both helpful and harmful suicide-related information. Aims: We aimed to assess the impact of a highly publicized suicide by a Hollywood actor on suicide-related online information seeking. Method: We tested the impact of the highly publicized suicide of Robin Williams on volumes of suicide-related search queries. Results: Both harmful and helpful search terms increased immediately after the actor's suicide, with a substantial jump of harmful queries. Limitations: The study has limitations (e.g., possible validity threats of the query share measure, use of ambiguous search terms). Conclusion: Online suicide prevention efforts should try to increase online users' awareness of and motivation to seek help, for which Google's own helpline box could play an even more crucial role in the future.

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