New paper! Setting goals is so useful in complex settings because it can reduce the environment's complexity to only the goal-relevant features. But for humans, reframing comes at a cost. Could this explain why we're so bad at abandoning goals that are no longer worthwhile? 🧵

Dr. Matthew Warburton and I put together a guide on "how to conduct behavioural experiments online"—something we wish we had when we were getting started. Hopefully it’s useful, and we’d very much welcome any feedback!

Nature Human Behaviour@nathumbehav.nature.com · 3mo ago

How to conduct behavioural experiments online

What makes new goals difficult to reach? As I discussed with @alisonpstevens.bsky.social for @sciencenews.bsky.social, the issue might be holding precise but costly memories of the target. As we internalize rules for what success looks like, goals become more attainable. @annecollins.bsky.social

Big goals can feel overwhelming. Here’s how to stay on track

Aiming for something big? Break that big goal into smaller, manageable steps. Then narrow your focus. This will keep your eyes on the prize.

snexplores.org

My paper is out! Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets. rdcu.be/eQjLN

A habit and working memory model as an alternative account of human reward-based learning

Nature Human Behaviour - In this study, Collins proposes an alternative dual-process (working memory and habit) model of reinforcement learning in humans.

rdcu.be

Next week, I'll be presenting my work with @annecollins.bsky.social @collinsccnlab.bsky.social on reward function compression in human RL at @sfn.org. Join me at the "Adaptive Choice" nanosymposium on Nov 16th or dm me if you'd like to meet up!

Come work with us! UC Irvine Cognitive Sciences is looking for a new Assistant Professor to join our team: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09896 I'm not on the committee, but happy to talk if you're interested.

Assistant Professor - Cognitive Sciences

University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ap.uci.edu

📢 New preprint! How do humans learn from arbitrary, abstract goals? We show that, when goal spaces can be compressed, costly working-memory processes give way to internalized reward functions, enabling efficient goal-dependent reinforcement learning. @annecollins.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2509.06810

Reward function compression facilitates goal-dependent reinforcement learning

Reinforcement learning agents learn from rewards, but humans can uniquely assign value to novel, abstract outcomes in a goal-dependent manner. However, this flexibility is cognitively costly, making l...

arxiv.org

UC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

My lab at UCLA is hiring 1-2 PhD students this cycle! Join us to work at the intersection of cognitive science and AI applied to pressing societal challenges like climate change. More info about me: rachit-dubey.github.io My lab: ucla-cocopol.github.io Please help repost/spread the word!

JOB ALERT: Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Postdoc position in Osaka, Japan! Possible start in October 2025 (contact me ASAP), or from April 2026. PLEASE REPOST! #postdocjobs #neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychscisky #compneurosky #neurojobs 1/

🚨 We’re hiring! The Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Virginia Tech is looking for a postdoc to join our team studying the neural + computational mechanisms of structure learning and flexible cognition: ccnvt.github.io#positions

Generative AI is a cultural transmission technology: it plays a growing role in generation, selection and transmission of ideas/opinions in human society 🧠🔄🌐 And yet we understand very little of this dynamics at this point 🤔❓ A step forward is our #ICLR2025 paper !👇

Gaia Molinaro@gaiamolinaro.bsky.social · last yr.

What's wrong with evaluating #LLMs after a single interaction? Come find out @iclr-conf.bsky.social and learn how cultural attraction theory can help us do better. Poster #288, 10 am.

What's wrong with evaluating #LLMs after a single interaction? Come find out @iclr-conf.bsky.social and learn how cultural attraction theory can help us do better. Poster #288, 10 am.

Have you ever gotten lost in fantasies and thought to yourself, "What a waste of time"? Well, think again! In our new piece in Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Moshe Bar and I explain one reason why spontaneous thoughts, even when seemingly useless, may be key to human intelligence.

Stop by @neuripsconf.bsky.social poster #3909 11 am - 2 pm today if you want to wish me a happy birthday, hear about goal selection in RL, or both! @pyoudeyer.bsky.social @annecollins.bsky.social

Gaia Molinaro@gaiamolinaro.bsky.social · 2y ago

I'm excited to announce that this work has been accepted at @blog.neurips.cc.web.brid.gy 🧠🤖 We hope to spark conversations on goal selection in biological and artificial agents. Check it out at openreview.net/forum?id=Gbq... With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, & Anne Collins

I'm excited to announce that this work has been accepted at @blog.neurips.cc.web.brid.gy 🧠🤖 We hope to spark conversations on goal selection in biological and artificial agents. Check it out at openreview.net/forum?id=Gbq... With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, & Anne Collins

Latent Learning Progress Drives Autonomous Goal Selection in Human...

Humans are autotelic agents who learn by setting and pursuing their own goals. However, the precise mechanisms guiding human goal selection remain unclear. Learning progress, typically measured as...

openreview.net

Gaia Molinaro@gaiamolinaro.bsky.social · 2y ago

How do we decide which goals to pursue? Here, we introduce the notion of *latent learning progress* to explain human goal selection and inspire advances in the development of autotelic machines. osf.io/preprints/ps... With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, and Anne Collins

No time to read? A 5-minute summary of this paper is now out on YouTube! youtu.be/fkPt9a5OvTs?...

Latent learning progress guides hierarchical goal selection in humans - Gaia Molinaro (UC Berkeley)

Spotlight talk at the 5th International Convention on the Mathematics of Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, Rome, 2024 (https://neuromonster.org). Recorded and hosted with generous funding from the Kavli Foundation, Gatsby Foundation, Templeton Foundation, Harvard University, European Research Council, Artificial Intelligence Journal, and Google DeepMind. © Thinking About Thinking, Inc, a 501(c)3 Nonprofit registered in New Jersey, USA. https://thinkingaboutthinking.org

youtu.be

Gaia Molinaro@gaiamolinaro.bsky.social · 2y ago

How do we decide which goals to pursue? Here, we introduce the notion of *latent learning progress* to explain human goal selection and inspire advances in the development of autotelic machines. osf.io/preprints/ps... With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, and Anne Collins

How do we decide which goals to pursue? Here, we introduce the notion of *latent learning progress* to explain human goal selection and inspire advances in the development of autotelic machines. osf.io/preprints/ps... With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, and Anne Collins

The notion that goals are central to human cognition is intuitive, yet learning and decision-making researchers have often overlooked the topic. In this Trends in Cognitive Sciences review, @annecollins.bsky.social and I propose it’s time to start studying goals in their own right 🧠 t.co/He6PIpQdt9