Efficiency of learning vs. processing: Towards a normative theory of multitasking

Yotam Sagiv, Sebastian Musslick, Yael Niv, Jonathan D. Cohen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

A striking limitation of human cognition is our inability to execute some tasks simultaneously. Recent work suggests that such limitations can arise from a fundamental trade-off in network architectures that is driven by the sharing of representations between tasks: sharing promotes quicker learning, at the expense of interference while multitasking. From this perspective, multitasking failures might reflect a preference for learning efficiency over parallel processing capability. We explore this hypothesis by formulating an ideal Bayesian agent that maximizes expected reward by learning either shared or separate representations for a task set. We investigate the agent's behavior and show that over a large space of parameters the agent sacrifices long-run optimality (higher multitasking capacity) for short-term reward (faster learning). Furthermore, we construct a general mathematical framework in which rational choices between learning speed and processing efficiency can be examined for a variety of different task environments.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2018
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages1002-1007
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780991196784
StatePublished - 2018
Event40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Changing Minds, CogSci 2018 - Madison, United States
Duration: Jul 25 2018Jul 28 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2018

Conference

Conference40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Changing Minds, CogSci 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMadison
Period7/25/187/28/18

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Keywords

  • Bayesian inference
  • capacity constraints
  • cognitive control
  • multitasking

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