ArticlePLoS computational biology2025
Whom do we prefer to learn from in observational reinforcement learning?
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Social learning and exploration-exploitation dilemma in decision-making.Frontiers in neural circuits · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Learning by observing others' experiences is a hallmark of human intelligence. While the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying observational learning are well understood, less is known about whom people prefer to learn from in the context of observational learning. One hypothesis posits that learners prefer individuals who exhibit a high degree of decision noise, 'free riding' on the costly exploration of others. An alternative hypothesis is that learners prefer individuals with low decision noise, as lower decision noise is often associated with better performance. In a preregistered experiment, we found that most participants preferred to learn from low-noise (high-performing) individuals. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed that participants who preferred low-noise individuals tended to rely on imitation of others' actions. These findings offer a potential computational account of how learning styles are related to partner selection in social learning.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.