A linear threshold model for optimal stopping behavior
Abstract
In many real-life decisions, options are distributed in space and time, making it necessary to search sequentially through them, often without a chance to return to a rejected option. The optimal strategy in these tasks is to choose the first option that is above a threshold that depends on the current position in the sequence. The implicit decision-making strategies by humans vary but largely diverge from this optimal strategy. The reasons for this divergence remain unknown. We present a model of human stopping decisions in sequential decision-making tasks based on a linear threshold heuristic. The first two studies demonstrate that the linear threshold model accounts better for sequential decision making than existing models. Moreover, we show that the model accurately predicts participants’ search behavior in different environments. In the third study, we confirm that the model generalizes to a real-world problem, thus providing an important step toward understanding human sequential decision making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 27, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.2002312117
Entities
People
- Bettina von Helversen
- Christiane Baumann
- Henrik Singmann
- Samuel J Gershman
Organizations
- Harvard University
- Office of Naval Research
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- University of Bremen
- University of Warwick
- University of Zurich