On Fri, 21 Feb 2003, Brad Wyble wrote: > . . . > Interestingly, there are some primitive parts of our brain that are better at logic > and are more rational than our executive function. Animals (and humans) in a > classical conditioning paradigm are *excellent* at performing simple behaviors in a > way that maximizes reward. We can determine the proper ratio of performance on a > two lever task without even being consciously aware of the contingencies. Rats can > do this too. In fact, sometimes our advanced forebrain gets in the way of our more > primitive structures trying to do what they do best. This is probably why people > gamble and play the lottery. I would guess that the payoff matrices for all forms > of casino gambling are too subtle and complicated for our primitive rationality > agents to comprehend, and so the stupid forebrain gets to have its way.
Yes, its amazing what even simple animal brains can do with simple learning problems, when rewards quickly follow behaviors. The forebrain evolved to solve the hard learning problems, when there are long delays between behaviors and rewards, and multiple behaviors precede rewards. To solve this 'credit assignment problem' it needs a model of how the world works. The forebrain seems stupid unless we award it points for difficulty. As you point out sometimes we can see that a learning problem with delayed reward is actually equivalent to an easier problem with immediate reward, but the forebrain is still stuck with its slow but general simulation. Cheers, Bill ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
