Agency and the Calibration of Motivated Behavior

Publication date: Available online 7 July 2017
Source:Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Author(s): Justin M. Moscarello, Catherine A. Hartley
The controllability of positive or negative environmental events has long been recognized as a critical factor determining their impact on an organism. In studies across species, controllable and uncontrollable reinforcement have been found to yield divergent effects on subsequent behavior. Here we present a model of the organizing influence of control, or a lack thereof, on the behavioral repertoire. We propose that individuals derive a generalizable estimate of agency from controllable and uncontrollable outcomes, which serves to calibrate their behavioral strategies in a manner that is most likely to be adaptive given their prior experience.



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