Algorithm selection by rational metareasoning as a model of human strategy selection

Falk Lieder, Dillon Plunkett, Jessica B. Hamrick, Stuart J. Russell, Nicholas J. Hay, Thomas L. Griffiths

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Selecting the right algorithm is an important problem in computer science, because the algorithm often has to exploit the structure of the input to be efficient. The human mind faces the same challenge. Therefore, solutions to the algorithm selection problem can inspire models of human strategy selection and vice versa. Here, we view the algorithm selection problem as a special case of metareasoning and derive a solution that outperforms existing methods in sorting algorithm selection. We apply our theory to model how people choose between cognitive strategies and test its prediction in a behavioral experiment. We find that people quickly learn to adaptively choose between cognitive strategies. People's choices in our experiment are consistent with our model but inconsistent with previous theories of human strategy selection. Rational metareasoning appears to be a promising framework for reverse-engineering how people choose among cognitive strategies and translating the results into better solutions to the algorithm selection problem.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2870-2878
Number of pages9
JournalAdvances in Neural Information Processing Systems
Volume4
Issue numberJanuary
StatePublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event28th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems 2014, NIPS 2014 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: Dec 8 2014Dec 13 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Information Systems
  • Signal Processing

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