Information-seeking in the rat

Thesis

From a functional viewpoint, decision-makers should value information only when it can be used to alter future events. However, experiments show that animals (including humans) value information they cannot use, as if they were simply driven by reducing uncertainty per se. I explore this phenomenon experimentally and interpret it theoretically. In two of the chapters I use protocols in which information is unusable because it is given after choices, while in the other two subjects can choose whether to obtain information that can lead to better decisions. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that neither purely functional nor purely mechanistic interpretations are satisfactory, illustrating the importance of integration in the specific but broadly significant field of information-seeking behaviour.

Authors: Ojeda Laguna, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-kkm6b0ngy
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English