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%!TeX TS-program = pdflatex
%!TeX encoding = UTF-8 Unicode
%!TeX spellcheck = en-US
%!BIB TS-program = bibtex
% -*- coding: UTF-8; -*-
% vim: set fenc=utf-8
%: %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\newcommand{\AuthorA}{Chlo\'e Pasturel}
\newcommand{\AuthorB}{Anna Montagnini}%
\newcommand{\AuthorC}{Laurent Perrinet}%
\newcommand{\Address}{Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (UMR 7289), Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS - Marseille, France}%
\newcommand{\Website}{https://laurentperrinet.github.io}%
\newcommand{\EmailC}{[email protected]}%[email protected]
\newcommand{\Title}{
%Principles and psychophysics of Active Inference in anticipating a dynamic probabilistic bias
% Should I stay or should I go?
%Humans adapt their eye movements to the volatility of visual motion properties, and know about it
Humans adapt their anticipatory eye movements to the volatility of visual motion properties
%Anticipating a volatile probabilistic bias in visual motion direction
%Humans adapt to the volatility of visual motion properties : eye movements and explicit guesses
}
\newcommand{\Acknowledgments}{This work was supported by EU Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Grant No 642961 (PACE-ITN) and by the Fondation pour le Recherche M\'edicale, under the program \textit{Equipe FRM} (DEQ20180339203/PredictEye/G Masson). Code and material on the \href{\Website/publication/pasturel-montagnini-perrinet-19}{corresponding author's website}. We thank Doctor Jean-Bernard Damasse, Guillaume S Masson and Professor Laurent Madelain for insightful discussions. }
\newcommand{\Abstract}{
Animal behavior must constantly adapt to changes, for example when the statistical properties of the environment change unexpectedly. For an agent that interacts with this volatile setting, it is important to react accurately and as quickly as possible. It has already been shown that when a random sequence of motion ramps of a visual target is biased to one direction (e.g. right or left), human observers adapt to accurately anticipate the expected direction with their eye movements. Here, we prove that this ability extends to a volatile environment where the probability bias could change at random switching times. In addition, we also recorded the explicit direction prediction reported by observers as given by a rating scale. Both results were compared to the estimates of a probabilistic agent that is optimal in relation to the event switching generating model. Compared to the classical leaky integrator model, we found a better match between our probabilistic agent and the behavioral responses, both for the anticipatory eye movements and the explicit task. Furthermore, by titrating the level of preference between exploration and exploitation in the model, we were able to fit each individual experimental data-set with different levels of estimated volatility and derive a common marker for the inter-individual variability of participants. These results prove that in such an unstable environment, human observers can still represent an internal belief about the environmental contingencies, and use this representation both for sensory-motor control and for explicit judgments. This work offers an innovative approach to more generically test the diversity of human cognitive abilities in uncertain and dynamic environments.}
\newcommand{\AuthorSummary}{
Understanding how humans adapt to changing environments to make judgments or plan motor responses based on time-varying sensory information is crucial for psychology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Current theories for how we deal with the environment's uncertainty most rely on the equilibrium behavior in response to the introduction of some randomness change. Here we show that in the more ecological case where the context switches at random times all along the experiment, an adaptation to this volatility can be performed online. In particular, we show in two behavioral experiments that humans can adapt to such volatility at the early sensorimotor level, through their anticipatory eye movements, but also at a higher cognitive level, through explicit ratings. Our results suggest that humans (and future artificial systems) can use much richer adaptive strategies than previously assumed.
}
\newcommand{\KeyWords}{eye movements, decision making, volatility, bayesian model; adaptation; perception}
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%: Abstract
\section*{Abstract}
Animal behavior must constantly adapt to changes, for example when the statistical properties of the environment change unexpectedly. For an agent that interacts with this volatile setting, it is important to react accurately and as quickly as possible. It has already been shown that when a random sequence of motion ramps of a visual target is biased to one direction (e.g. right or left), human observers adapt to accurately anticipate the expected direction with their eye movements. Here, we prove that this ability extends to a volatile environment where the probability bias could change at random switching times. In addition, we also recorded the explicit direction prediction reported by observers as given by a rating scale. Both results were compared to the estimates of a probabilistic agent that is optimal in relation to the event switching generating model. Compared to the classical leaky integrator model, we found a better match between our probabilistic agent and the behavioral responses, both for the anticipatory eye movements and the explicit task. Furthermore, by titrating the level of preference between exploration and exploitation in the model, we were able to fit each individual experimental data-set with different levels of estimated volatility and derive a common marker for the inter-individual variability of participants. These results prove that in such an unstable environment, human observers can still represent an internal belief about the environmental contingencies, and use this representation both for sensory-motor control and for explicit judgments. This work offers an innovative approach to more generically test the diversity of human cognitive abilities in uncertain and dynamic environments.}
% Please keep the Author Summary between 150 and 200 words
% Use first person. PLOS ONE authors please skip this step.
% Author Summary not valid for PLOS ONE submissions.
\section*{Author summary}
Understanding how humans adapt to changing environments to make judgments or plan motor responses based on time-varying sensory information is crucial for psychology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Current theories for how we deal with the environment's uncertainty most rely on the equilibrium behavior in response to the introduction of some randomness change. Here we show that in the more ecological case where the context switches at random times all along the experiment, an adaptation to this volatility can be performed online. In particular, we show in two behavioral experiments that humans can adapt to such volatility at the early sensorimotor level, through their anticipatory eye movements, but also at a higher cognitive level, through explicit ratings. Our results suggest that humans (and future artificial systems) can use much richer adaptive strategies than previously assumed.%: %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\section{Motivation}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\label{sec:intro}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\subsection{Volatility of sensory contingencies and the adaptation of cognitive systems}
%: 1A : cognitive adaptation to volatility; general volatility and perceptual learning
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
% * the evolution of prices on the stock market: Any Socio-economic contextual index may make the price evolve up or down, slowly or more Rapidly
% * ecological change
% * the side (left or right of the field) in which the ball is on a soccer field
% \LP{Anna, I found a better example which was less dramatic than ``
% Think for instance of the variability of environmental contingencies
% present in global climate and
% the probability of a change in its dynamic
% since the switch of civilization in an industrialized organization:
% We have access to (possibly noisy and heterogeneous) measurements
% of some (few) markers, such as carbon dioxide concentration and
% wish to predict the range of the mean temperature on Earth.
% This reveals some of the dynamics of
% the complex system constituted by the atmosphere
% and of acceptable levels of temperature for civilization.
% Based on past history and prior knowledge about
% the effect of our own emissions of carbon dioxide
% (for instance priming evidence of the link between carbon dioxide
% concentration and an elevation of temperature),
% one should be able to predict at best if either
% one could continue to exploit a similar strategy (emit gases)
% or if it is necessary to explore different paradigms (limit emissions).
% '' Hope you like it :-) }
% \AM{ I like the green example too: it only demands to define the variable that would correspond to the time series to be tracked: carbon dioxide measurements at a given critical location? Also, the fact that a switch detection may inform important decision is nice for the example but we do not really have an analogy to it in our task. Yet I am very happy with both examples, both very much on fashion, are we more ecology, or pro-vax activists?!}
We live in a fundamentally volatile world for which
our cognitive system has to constantly adapt.
In particular, this volatility may be generated
by processes with different time scales.
%Imagine for instance you are a general practitioner and that you usually report an average number of three person infected by measles per week. However, this rate is variable and over the past week you observe that the rate increased to ten cases. As such, two alternate interpretations are available: Either, there is an outbreak of measles and one should estimate its incidence (as measured as the rate of new cases) since an estimate of the outbreak’s onset and which defines a new infection rate of this outbreak but also an updated value of volatility (as given by the probability of a new outbreak) at a longer time scale. Alternatively, these cases are “unlucky” coincidences that originate from the variability of the process which drives patients to the doctor and which are in a shorter term an instance of values drawn from a stationary random process. In that option, it may be possible to readjust the estimated baseline rate of infection with this new data. This example illustrates one fundamental problem with which our cognitive system is faced: when observing new sensory evidence, should I stay and continue to exploit this novel data with respect to my current beliefs about the environment’s state or should I go and explore a new hypothesis about the random process generating the observations since the detection of a switch in the environment?
Imagine for instance you are a general practitioner and
that you usually report an average number of
three persons infected by measles per week.
However, this rate is variable and
over the past week you observe that the rate increased to ten cases.
As such, two alternative interpretations are available:
the first possibility is that there is an outbreak of measles and
one should then estimate its incidence
(i.e. the rate of new cases)
since the inferred outbreak's onset, in order
to quantify the infection rate specific to this outbreak,
but also to update the value of the environmental volatility (as given by the probability of a new outbreak)
at a longer time scale.
Alternatively, these cases are
``unlucky'' coincidences that originate from the natural variability
of the underlying statistical process which drive patients to the doctor,
but which are instances drawn from a stationary random process.
In that option, it may be possible to readjust
the estimated baseline rate of infection with this new data.
This example illustrates one fundamental problem
with which our cognitive system is faced:
when observing new sensory evidence,
\emph{should I stay} and continue to exploit this novel data
with respect to my current beliefs about the environment's state
or \emph{should I go} and explore a new hypothesis
about the random process generating the observations
since the detection of a switch in the environment?
By definition, volatility measures the temporal variability
of the sufficient parameters of a random variable.
Such \emph{meta-analysis} of the environment's statistical properties
is an effective strategy at the large scale level of our example,
but also at all levels which are behaviorally relevant,
such as contextual changes in our everyday life.
Inferring near-future states in a dynamic environment,
such that one can prepare to act upon them
ahead of their occurrence~\citep{PerrinetAdamasFriston2014} ---
or at least forming beliefs as precise as possible
about a future environmental context ---
is an ubiquitous challenge for cognitive systems~\citep{Barack16}.
In the long term, how the human brain dynamically manages
this trade-off between exploitation and exploration
is essential to the adaptation
of the behavior through reinforcement learning~\citep{Cohen2007}.
In controlled experimental settings which challenge visual perception or sensorimotor associations,
such adaptive processes have been mostly put in evidence
by precisely analyzing the participants' behavior in a sequence of experimental trials,
typically highlighting sequential effects
at the time scale of several seconds to minutes
or even hours in the case of the adaptation to a persistent sensorimotor relation.
% TODO: talk about Gallistel / Sugrue / Brody
%: Past history of sensory event integration in vision
Indeed, stimulus history of sensory events influences
how the current stimulus is perceived~\citep{Sotiropoulos2011,Adams12,ChopinMamassian2012,FischerWhitney2014,Cicchini_PRSB_2018} and
acted upon~\citep{WallmanFuchs1998,Carpenter1995, Maus2015,Damasse18}.
Two qualitatively opposite effects of the stimulus history have been described:
negative (adaptation), and positive (priming-like) effects.
Adaptation reduces the sensitivity to recurrently presented stimuli,
thus yielding to a re-calibrated perceptual experience~\citep{Clifford2007, Webster2011, Kohn2007}. Examples of negative biases in perceptual discrimination are numerous (see for instance~\citep{KanaiVerstraten2005,ChopinMamassian2012}) and show that the visual system tends
to favor temporal and spatial stability of the stimulus.
On the other hand, priming is a facilitatory effect that
enhances the identification of repeated stimuli~\citep{Verstraten1994, Tiest2009}.
%\AM{I WOULD SKIP THIS This type of perceptual learning leads to improvements %in discrimination
%with long-term training on a perceptual judgment~\citep{Lu2009}.}
In sensorimotor control,
the same stimulus presented several times could indeed
lead to faster and more accurate responses and,
at the same time, lead to critically suboptimal behavior
when a presented stimulus is not coherent
with the participant's expectations~\citep{Hyman1953, Yu2009}. This process is highly dynamic especially in complex environments
where new contingencies can arise at every moment.
Interestingly, priming effects at cognitive levels
are sometimes paralleled by anticipatory motor responses which are positively correlated with the repetition of stimulus properties.
A well-known example of this behavior
are anticipatory smooth eye movements (aSPEM),
as we will illustrate in the next section.
%: Bayesian methods & role of predictive processing for this adaptive response
Overall, the ability to detect
statistical regularities in the event sequence appears as a fundamental ability
for the adaptive behavior of living species.
Importantly, few studies have addressed the question of whether
the estimate of such regularities is explicit,
and whether verbal reports of the dynamic statistical
estimates would eventually correlate to the measures of behavioral adaptation or priming.
Here we aim at investigating this question
in the specific case of the processing of a target's motion direction.
In addition, we attempt to palliate to the lack of a solid modeling approach
to best understand the computation underlying behavioral adaptation to the environment's statistics,
and in particular how sequential effects are integrated
within a hierarchical statistical framework.
% TODO : clarify this paragraph
As such, Bayesian inference offers an effective methodology
to deal with this question.
In all generality, Bayesian methods allow to define and quantitatively assess
a range of hypotheses about the processing of (possibly noisy) information by some formal agents~\citep{Deneve1999, Diaconescu2014, Daunizeau10a}.
A key principle in the Bayesian inference approach is
to introduce so-called latent variables
which formalize how different hypotheses predict synthetic or experimental measurements.
Each stated hypothesis is quantitatively formalized
by defining a graph of probabilistic dependencies between specific variables
using a generative model for the prior knowledge about its structure.
In practice, the generative model is parameterized by structural variables
(such as weights or non-linear gain functions)
such that, knowing incoming measurements, beliefs about latent variables
may be represented as probabilities.
Then, using the rules of probability calculus
one can progressively update beliefs about the latent variables,
such that one can finally infer the hidden structure of received inputs~\citep{Hoyer2003, Ma2014}.
For instance, using Bayes's rule, one can combine
the likelihood of observations given the generative model and
the prior of these latent variables~\citep{Jaynes2014}.
Of particular interest for us is the possibility to
quantitatively represent in this kind of probabilistic model
the predictive and iterative nature of a sequence of events.
Indeed, once the belief about latent variables
is formed from the sensory input,
this belief can be used to update
the prior over future beliefs~\citep{Montagnini2007}.
In such models, the comparisons between expectations and actual data produces
constant updates to the estimates of the latent variables
but also on the validity of the model.
%Such a process is formalized in all generality
%within the~\textit{active inference} framework~\citep{Friston2003, Friston2010}.
%In summary, Active Inference allows to predict latent variables
%but also to understand longer time effects such as adaptation and learning.
%
There are numerous examples of Bayesian approaches
applied to the study of the adaptation to volatility.
For instance,~\citet{Meyniel16} simulated a hierarchical Bayesian model
over five previously published datasets~\citep{Squires1976, Huettel2002, Kolossa2013, Cho2002, Falk1997} in the domain of cognitive neuroscience.
Their main conclusion was that
learning the local transition probabilities
was sufficient to explain the large repertoire
of experimental effects reported in all these studies.
%
%As a consequence, Bayesian inference allows to compare the explanatory power
%of different models...
Here we focus on an extension of this approach to the study of motion processing and eye movements.
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
\subsection{Anticipatory Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements (aSPEM)}
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
%: 1B : particular case of aSPEM
%: adaptation to volatility in EMs : seen as an anticipation in SPEM - principle and function
Humans are able to accurately track a moving object
with a combination of saccades and
Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements (SPEM, for a review see~\citet{Krauzlis2008}).
These movements allow us to align and
stabilize the object on the fovea,
thus enabling high-resolution visual processing.
This process is delayed by different factors such as axonal transduction,
neural processing latencies and the inertia of the oculomotor system~\citep{Krauzlis89}.
When predictive information is available about target motion,
anticipatory SPEM (aSPEM) are
efficiently generated before the target's appearance~\citep{Westheimer1954, Kowler1979a, Kowler1979b} thereby reducing visuomotor latency.
Moreover, some experiments have demonstrated the existence
of prediction-based smooth pursuit during
the transient disappearance of a moving target~\citep{Badler2006,BeckerFuchs1985,OrbandeXivryMissalLefevre_JOV2012}.
Overall, although the initiation of SPEM is almost always driven by a visual motion signal, it is now clear that smooth pursuit behavior
can be modulated by extra-retinal, predictive information even in the absence of a direct visual stimulation.
The anticipatory smooth pursuit behavior is remarkable
in different aspects.
First, its buildup is relatively fast, such that only a few trials are sufficient
to pick up some regularity in the properties of visual motion, such as speed or direction~\citep{Kowler1984,Maus2015,Deravet_JOV2018}.
Second, it is in general an unconscious process
of which participants are not aware of.
As such, this behavior is potentially a useful marker
to study the internal representation of motion expectancy %(or Prior)
and in particular to analyze how sensorimotor expectancy
interacts dynamically with contextual contingencies in shaping oculomotor behavior.
%: linear relationship (talk about santos & kowler and others)
Typically, an aSPEM is observed after a temporal cue and
before target motion onset~\citep{Kowler1979a,Kowler1979b, Kowler1984}. %~(see \seeFig{intro}-A).
It is generally assumed that the role of aSPEMs is
to minimize as fast as possible the visual impairment due
to the amplitude of eye-to-target position and velocity mismatch.
Overall, anticipation can potentially reduce the typical sensorimotor delay
between target motion onset and foveation. In a previous study~\citep{Montagnini2010},
we have analyzed how forthcoming motion properties,
such as target speed or direction, can be
predicted and anticipated with coherently oriented eye movements. %~(see \seeFig{intro}-A).
It has been observed that the strength of anticipation,
as measured by the mean anticipatory eye velocity,
increases when the target repeatedly moves in the same direction~\citep{Kowler1984, Kowler1989, Heinen2005}.
We similarly found a graded effect of both the speed and the direction-bias
on the strength of aSPEM. % (see \seeFig{intro}-B).
In particular, this effect is linearly related
to the probability of motion's speed or direction. %~(see \seeFig{intro}-B).
These results are coherent within previous oculomotor findings
by our and also other groups~\citep{SantosKowler2017}.
These results imply that the probability bias over a target's direction is
one additional factor beyond other physical and cognitive cues~\citep{Kowler2014, SantosKowler2017,Damasse18}
that modulate the common predictive framework
driving anticipatory behavior.
%
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%: FIGURE 1 fig:intro~\seeFig{intro}
\begin{figure}%[b!]
\centering{
\begin{tikzpicture}%[thick,scale=1, every node/.style={scale=1} ]
\node [anchor=north west] (imgA) at (0.000\linewidth,.600\linewidth){\includegraphics[width=0.325
\linewidth]{2019_figures/1_A_Experiment_randomblock}};
\node [anchor=north west] (imgB) at (0.335\linewidth,.595\linewidth){\includegraphics[width=0.350\linewidth]{2019_figures/1_B_protocol_recording}};
\node [anchor=north west] (imgC) at (0.650\linewidth,.595\linewidth){\includegraphics[width=0.350\linewidth]{2019_figures/1_C_protocol_bet}};
\draw [anchor=north west] (0.000\linewidth, .62\linewidth) node {$\mathsf{(A)}$};
\draw [anchor=north west] (0.350\linewidth, .62\linewidth) node {$\mathsf{(B)}$};
\draw [anchor=north west] (0.665\linewidth, .62\linewidth) node {$\mathsf{(C)}$};
\end{tikzpicture}
}
\caption{
\textbf{Smooth pursuit eye movements and explicit direction predictions in a volatile switching environment}
\textit{(A)}~
We tested the capacity of human participants to adapt to a volatile environment
by using a simple, 3-layered generative model of fluctuations in target directions (TD)
that we call the Binary Switching Model (BSM).
This TD binary variable is chosen using a Bernoulli trial of a given probability bias.
This probability bias is constant for as many trials until a switch is generated.
At a switch, the bias is chosen at random from a given prior.
Switches are generated in the third layer as binary events drawn from a Bernoulli trial
with a given hazard rate (defined here as $1/40$ per trial).
\textit{(B)}~
The eye-movements task was an adapted version of a task developed by~\citet{Montagnini2010}.
Each one of $600$ trials consisted of sequentially:
a fixation dot (of random duration between $400$ and $800$~\ms),
a blank screen (of fixed duration of $300$~\ms) and
a moving ring-shaped target (with $15~\degree/s$ velocity) which the observers were instructed to follow.
The direction of the target (right or left) was drawn pseudo-randomly
according to the generative model defined above.
\textit{(C)}~In order to titrate the adaptation
to the environmental volatility of target direction at the conscious level,
we invited each observer to perform on a different day a new variant of the direction-biased experiment,
where we asked participants to predict, before each trial, %the level of confidence for
their estimate of the forthcoming direction of the target.
As shown in this sample screenshot,
this was performed by moving a mouse cursor (black triangle) on a continuous rating scale
between ``sure left'', to ``unsure'' and finally ``sure right''.
}
\label{fig:intro}
\end{figure}
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%: limits of the previous method
%In order to generalize such results to more ecological conditions,
%it is thus necessary to extend the experimental protocol of~\citet{Montagnini2010} in three aspects that will be illustrated in the next section.
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
\subsection{Contributions}%Outline}
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
%: 1C : what is novel in our work
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
%: 1Ca how we do it : or rather why we do it this way (and not like Matthys)
The goal of this study is to generalize the adaptive process
observed in the aSPEM response in previous studies~\citep{Montagnini2010,SantosKowler2017} to more ecological settings and
also to broaden its scope by showing that such adaptive processes
occur at the conscious level as well.
%The equations for this protocol will be detailed below~(\seeSec{Bayesian_change_point}).
We already mentioned that by manipulating the probability bias for target motion direction,
it is possible to modulate the direction and mean velocity of aSPEM.
This suggests that probabilistic information may be used
to inform the internal representation of motion prediction
for the initiation of anticipatory movements.
However, it is yet unclear what generative model to use
to dynamically manipulate the probability bias
and generate an ecologically relevant input sequence of target directions.
A possible confound comes from the fact that
previous studies have used trial sequences (\textit{blocks}) of fixed lengths,
stacked in a sequence of conditions defined by the different probability biases.
Indeed, observers may potentially pick up
the information on the fixed block's length
to predict the occurrence of a switch (a change in probability bias) during the experiment.
Second, we observed qualitatively that following a switch,
the strength of aSPEM changed gradually,
consistently with other adaptation paradigms~\citep{Fukushima1996,Kahlon1996,Souto13}.
The estimate of the characteristic temporal parameters for this adaptation mechanism
may become particularly challenging in a dynamic context,
where the probabilistic contingencies vary in time in an unpredictable way.
Finally, whether and how the information processing underlying
the buildup of aSPEM and its dynamics is linked to
an explicit estimate of probabilities is still largely unknown.
%%%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%: 1Cb design of the binary switching generative model
To assess the dynamics of the adaptive processes
which compensate for the variability within sensory sequences,
one may generate random sequences of Target Directions (TDs)
using a dynamic value for the probability bias $p = \text{Pr}(\text{TD is 'right'})$,
with a parametric mechanism controlling for the volatility at each trial.
In the Hierarchical Gaussian Filter model~\citep{Mathys11}, for instance,
volatility is controlled as a non-linear transformation
of a random walk (modeled itself by a Brownian motion with a given diffusion coefficient).
Ultimately, this hierarchical model allows to generate a sequence of binary choices
where the variability fluctuates along a given trajectory.
Such a forward probabilistic model is invertible
using some simplifying assumptions and allows
to extract a time-varying inference of the agent's belief about volatility~\citep{Vossel14}.
Herein, to analyze the effect of history length in all generality,
we extended the protocol of~\citet{Montagnini2010} such that the probability bias
is still fixed within blocks but that these blocks have variable lengths,
that is, by introducing switches occurring at random times.
Therefore, similarly to~\citet{Meyniel13}, we will use a model where
the bias $p$ in target direction varies according to a piecewise-constant function.
%We expect that within each sub-block, the uncertainty about of the value of $p$
%will progressively decrease as we accumulate samples.
In addition, in our previous study
the range of possible biases was finite.
In the present work, we extended the paradigm
by drawing $p$ as a continuous random variable
within the whole range of possible probability biases (that is, the segment $[ 0, 1 ]$).
As a summary, we first draw random events (that we denote as ``switches'')
with a given mean frequency and which controls the strength of the volatility.
Second, the value $p$ of the bias only changes at the moment of a switch,
independently of the previous bias' value
and is stationary between two switches, forming what we call an ``epoch''.
Third, target direction is drawn as a Bernoulli trial using the current value of $p$.
Such a hierarchical structure is presented in~\seeFig{intro}-A,
where we show the realization of the target's directions sequence,
the trajectory of the underlying probability bias (hidden to the observer), and
the occurrences of switches.
%: 1Cc equations
Mathematically, this can be considered as a three-layered hierarchical model
defining the evolution of the model at each trial $t$ as the vector $(x_2^t, x_1^t, x_0^t)$.
At the topmost layer,
the occurrence $x_2^t \in \{ 0, 1 \}$ of a switch ($1$ for true, $0$ for false)
is drawn from a Bernoulli trial $\Bb$ parameterized by its frequency $h$, or \emph{hazard rate}.
The value of $\tau=\frac 1 h$ thus gives the average duration (in number of trials)
between the occurrence of two switches.
In the middle layer, the probability bias $p$ of target direction
is a random variable that we define as $x_1^t \in [0, 1]$.
It is chosen at random from a prior distribution $\Pp$
%(that will be described in more detail in the following sections)
at the moment of a switch,
and else it is constant until the next occurrence of a switch.
The prior distribution $\Pp$ can be for instance
the uniform distribution $\Uu$ on $ [ 0, 1 ] $ or
Jeffrey's prior $\Jj$~(see \seeApp{bcp}).
Finally, a target moves either to the left or to the right,
and we denote this variable (target direction, TD) as $x_0^t \in \{ 0, 1 \}$.
This direction is drawn from a Bernoulli trial
parameterized by the direction bias $p=x_1^t$.
In summary, this is described according to the following equations:
%\begin{itemize}
% \item Occurrence of a switch: $x_2^t \propto \Bb(h)$
% \item Dynamics of probabilistic bias: \eql{\choice{\text{if} \quad x_2^t=0 \quad \text{then} \quad x_1^t = x_1^{t-1} \\
%\text{else} \quad x_1^t \propto \Pp }\label{eq:bsm}}
% \item Sequence of directions: $x_0^t \propto \Bb(x_1^t)$
%\end{itemize}
\eql{\choice{
\text{Occurrence of a switch: } x_2^t \propto \Bb(1/\tau) \\
% TODO: nest the choice
\text{Dynamics of probabilistic bias $p=x_1^t$: }
\choice{\text{if} \quad x_2^t=0 \quad \text{then} \quad x_1^t = x_1^{t-1} \\
\text{else} \quad x_1^t \propto \Pp \\
} \\
\text{Sequence of directions: } x_0^t \propto \Bb(x_1^t)
}\label{eq:bsm}}
In practice, we generated a sequence of $600$ trials,
and there is by construction a switch at $t=0$ (that is, $x_2^0=1$).
In addition, we imposed in our sequence that a switch
occurs after trial numbers $200$ and $400$,
in order to be able to compare adaptation properties
across different chunks of the trials sequence.
%The model generating the experimental sequence of trial directions, as well as the experimental protocol are illustrated in~\seeFig{intro}-A.
With such a three-layered structure, the model generates the randomized occurrence of switches,
itself generating epochs with constant direction probability %between two switches separated by a random length
%and chosen in the continuous range of possible biases' values,
and finally the random sequence of Target Direction (TD) occurrences at each trial.
To sum up, the system of three equations defined in~\seeEq{bsm}
defines the Binary Switching Model (BSM)
which we used for the generation of experimental sequences presented to human participants in the experiments.
We will use that generative model as the basis of an ideal observer model
inverting that model to predict probability biases from the observations (TDs) and
which we will test as a model for the adaptation of human behavior.
%: 1Cd outline
This paper is organized in five parts.
After this introduction where we presented the motivation for this study,
the next section~(\seeSec{Bayesian_change_point}) will present
an inversion of the BSM forward probabilistic model,
coined the Binary Bayesian Change Point (BBCP) model.
To our knowledge, such algorithm was not yet available, and
we will here provide with an exact analytical solution
by extending previous results from~\citet{AdamsMackay2007}
to the case of binary data as in the BSM presented above (see~\seeEq{bsm}).
In addition, the proposed algorithm is biologically realistic
as it uses simple computations and is \emph{online},
that is, that all computations on the sequence may be done
using solely a set of variables available at the present trial,
compactly representing all the sequence history seen in previous trials.
We will also provide a computational implementation
and a quantitative evaluation of this algorithm.
Then, we will present in~\seeSec{results_psycho} the analysis of experimental evidence
to validate the generalization of previous results %.
%In a first session, participants observe a target moving horizontally
%with constant speed from the center
%either to the right or left across trials
with this novel protocol. %~(see \seeFig{intro}-A \& B).
%The probability of either motion direction changes randomly in time.
In one session, participants were asked to estimate
``how much they are confident that
the target will move to the right or left in the next trial'' and
to adjust the cursor's position on the screen accordingly~(see \seeFig{intro}-C).
In the other experimental session on a different day,
we showed the same sequence of target directions and
recorded participants' eye movements~(see \seeFig{intro}-B).
Indeed, in order to understand the nature of
the representation of motion regularities underlying this adaptive behavior,
it is crucial to collect both
the recording of eye movements
and the verbal explicit judgments about expectations on motion direction.
%In such an explicit judgment task, we evaluated for each participant their confidence for the next trial direction
%(\emph{prior} to the appearance of the target).
%on a rating scale
%between "sure left", to "unsure" and finally "sure right"~(see \seeFig{intro}-C).
%These results will be compared to the results for eye movements.
Another novelty of our approach is to use that agent as a regressor
which will allow us to match experimental results with the BBCP
and to compare its predictive power compared to classical models such as the leaky integrator model.
Hence, we will show that behavioral results match well
with the BBCP model.
In~\seeSec{inter}, we will synthesize these results
by inferring the volatility parameters inherent to the models
by best-fitting it to each each individual participant.
This will allow the analysis of inter-individual behavioral responses for each session.
In particular, we will test if one could predict observers' prior (preferred) volatility,
that is, a measure of the dynamic compromise between exploration (``should I go?'')
and exploitation (``should I stay?'')
across the two different sessions challenging predictive adaptive processes
at the unconscious and conscious levels.
Finally, we will summarize and conclude this study and
offer some perspectives for future work in~\seeSec{outro}.
%
%: %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\section{Results: Binary Bayesian Change Point (BBCP) detection model}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\label{sec:Bayesian_change_point}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%
%: 2 short intro
%
As we saw above, Bayesian methods provide a powerful framework for studying human behavior and adaptive processes in particular.
For instance,~\citet{Mathys11} first defined a multi-layered generative model for
sequences of input stimuli.
By inverting this stochastic forward process,
they could extract relevant descriptors at the different levels of the model
and fit these parameters with the recorded behavior.
Here, we use a similar approach, focusing specifically on the BSM generative model,
as defined in~\seeEq{bsm}.
To begin, we define a first ideal observer as a control, the \textit{leaky integrator} (or \textit{forgetful agent}),
which has an exponentially-decaying memory for the events that occurred in the past trials.
This agent can equivalently be described as one
which assumes that volatility is stationary with a fixed characteristic frequency of switches.
Then, we will extend this model to an agent
which assumes the existence of (randomly occurring) switches, that is,
that the value of the probabilistic bias may change
at specific (yet randomly drawn) trials,
as defined by the forward probabilistic model in~\seeEq{bsm}.
%
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
\subsection{Forgetful agent model (Leaky integrator)}%
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
%: 2Aa justification from previous studies
The leaky integrator ideal observer represents a classical, widespread and
realistic model of how trial-history shapes
adaptive processes in human behavior.
It is also well adapted to model motion expectation in the direction-biased experiment which leads to anticipatory SPEMs.
In this model, given the sequence of observations $x_0^t$ from trial $0$ to $t$,
the expectation $p=\hat{x_1}^{t+1}$ of the probability for the next trial direction can be modeled by making a simple heuristic:
This probability for an event is the weighted average of
the previously estimated probability, $\hat{x_1}^{t}$, with the new information $x_0^t$,
where the weight corresponds to a leak term (or discount)
by a factor $(1 - h)$, with $h \in [0, 1]$~\citep{Anderson2006}.
At trial $t$, this model can be expressed with the following equation:
\eql{
\hat{x_1}^{t+1} = (1 - h) \cdot \hat{x_1}^{t} + h \cdot x_0^t
\label{eq:leaky}}
where $\hat{x_1}^{t=0}$ is equal to some prior value ($0.5$ in the unbiased case),
corresponding to the best guess at $t=0$ (prior to the observation of any data).
% NOTE: it's an AR(1) process https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/358162/writing-ar1-as-a-ma-infty-process
%: from heuristics to ideal observer
In other words, the estimated probability $\hat{x_1}^{t+1}$ is computed
from the integration of previous instances
with a progressive discount of past information.
The value of the scalar $h$ represents
a compromise between responding rapidly
to changes in the environment ($h \approx 1$) and
not prematurely discarding information still of value
for slowly changing contexts ($h \approx 0$).
As such, we will call this scalar the hazard rate.
Similarly, one can define $\tau = 1 / h$ as
a characteristic time (in units of number of trials)
for the integration of information.
Looking more closely at this expression,
the ``forgetful agent'' computed in \seeEq{leaky}
consists of an exponentially-weighted moving average (see \seeApp{leaky}).
It may thus be equivalently written in the form of a time-weighted average:
\eql{
\hat{x_1}^{t+1} = (1-h)^{t+1} \cdot \hat{x_1}^{t=0} + h \cdot \sum_{0\leq i \leq t} (1 - h)^{i} \cdot x_0^{t-i}
\label{eq:leaky2}}
The first term corresponds to the discounted effect of the prior value before any observation and it tends to $0$ when $t$ increases.
More importantly, as $1-h < 1$, the second term corresponds to the \emph{leaky} integration of novel observations.
Inversely, let us now assume that
the true probability bias for direction changes randomly with a mean rate of once
every $\tau$ trials.
As a consequence, the probability that the bias does not change is $Pr(x_2^t=0)=1-h$ at each trial.
Assuming independence of these occurrences, the estimated probability $p=\hat{x_1}^{t+1}$ is thus proportional to the sum
of the past observations weighted by the belief that the bias has not changed during $i$ trials in the past, that is, exactly as defined by the second term of the right-hand side in~\seeEq{leaky2}.
This shows that
assuming that changes occur at a constant rate ($\hat{x_2}^t=h$)
but ignoring the variability in the temporal occurrence of the switch,
the optimal solution to this inference problem is the
ideal observer defined in~\seeEq{leaky2},
which finds an online recursive solution in~\seeEq{leaky}.
We therefore proved here that the heuristic derived from~\citet{Anderson2006}
is an ideal inversion of the two-layered generative model
which assumes a constant hazard rate for the probability bias.
%: 2Ac using \hat{p} as a regressor & limits of the leaky integrator
The correspondence that we proved between the weighted moving average heuristic
and the forgetful agent model as an ideal solution to that generative model leads
us to several interim conclusions.
First, the time series of inferred $\hat{x_1}^{t+1}$ values
can serve as a regressor for behavioral data
to test whether human observers follow a similar strategy.
In particular, the free parameter $h$
may be fitted to variations of the behavioral data across the sequence,
which itself is assumed to depend on the agents' belief in the weight decay.
%for instance to the data shown in~\seeFig{results_intro}.
Now, since we have defined a first generative model
and the corresponding ideal observer (the forgetful agent),
we next define a more complex model,
in order to overcome some of the limits of the leaky integrator.
Indeed, a first criticism could be that
this model is too rigid and does not sufficiently
account for the dynamics of contextual changes~\citep{Behrens07}
as the weight decay corresponds to assume \emph{a priori} a constant precision in the data sequence, contrary to more elaborate Bayesian models~\citep{Vilares2011}.
It seems plausible that the memory size (or history length) used by the brain
to infer any event probability can vary, and that this variation could be related
to the environmental volatility inferred from past data.
The model presented in~\seeEq{leaky2} uses a constant weight
(decaying with the distance to the current trial)
for all trials, while the actual precision of each trial
can be potentially evaluated and used
for precision-weighted estimation of the probability bias.
To address this hypothesis, our next model is inspired
by the Bayesian Change-point detection model~\citep{AdamsMackay2007}
of an ideal agent inferring
both the trajectory in time of the probability bias ($x_1^t$)
but also of the probability $Pr(x_2^t=1)$ of the occurrence of switches.
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
\subsection{Binary Bayesian Change Point (BBCP) detection model}
% ------------------------------------------------------------------
\label{sec:Binary_Bayesian_change_point}
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%: FIGURE 3 fig:Bayesianchangepoint \seeFig{Bayesianchangepoint}
\begin{figure}%[b!]
% cf 3_Results_2.ipynb
\centering{
\begin{tikzpicture}[thick,scale=.95]
\node [anchor=north west] (imgA) at (0.\linewidth,.55\linewidth){\includegraphics[width=0.33
\linewidth]{2019_figures/3_BCP_model}};
\node [anchor=north west] (imgB) at (0.36\linewidth,.580\linewidth){\includegraphics[width=0.64\linewidth]{2019_figures/3_BCP_readouts}};
\draw [anchor=north west] (0.000\linewidth, .62\linewidth) node {$\mathsf{(A)}$};
\draw [anchor=north west] (0.382\linewidth, .62\linewidth) node {$\mathsf{(B)}$};
\end{tikzpicture}
}
\caption{\textbf{Binary Bayesian Change Point (BBCP) detection model.} ~\textit{(A)} This plot shows a synthesized sequence of $13$ events,
%each of them corresponding to a binary choice,
either a leftward or rightward movement of the target (TD).
Run-length estimates are expressed as hypotheses about the length of a sub-block over which the probability bias was constant,
that is, the number of trials since the last switch.
Here, the true probability bias switched from a value of $.5$ to $.9$ at trial $7$,
as can be seen by the trajectory of the true run-length (blue line).
The BBCP model tries to capture the occurrences of a switch
by inferring the probability of different possible run lengths.
At any new datum (trial), this defines a Hidden Markov Model
as a graph (treillis), where % of possible run lengths.
edges indicate that a message is being passed
to update each node's probability (as represented by arrows from trial $13$ to $14$).
Black lines denote a progression of the run length at the next step (no switch),
while gray lines stand for the possibility that a switch happened:
In this case the run length would fall back to zero.
The probability for each node is represented by the grey scale (darker grey colors denote higher probability)
and the distribution is shown in the inset for two representative trials: $5$ and $11$.
Overall, this graph shows how the model integrates information to accurately identify a switch
and produce a prediction for the next trial (e.g. for $t=14$).
%The black \CP{Bleu} [and green] \CP{plus de courbe verte} curve respectively represent
%the actual [and inferred] run length of the simulated data
%as a function of trial number.
%In this instance, the inferred switch is delayed
%by one trial with respect to the true switch.
%\CP{representation des valeurs du run length en haut a gauche pour les essais 5 (en gris) et 8 (en bleu), on peut voir que pour l'essais 5 et 8 la probabilit\'e qu'il n'y est pas eu de switch depuis le d\'ebut est la plus importante (peut \^etre prendre un autre essais plus parlant - trial 10: proba switch à l'essais 5 est plus importante (notebook3) ?)}
~\textit{(B)} On a longer sequence of $200$ trials,
representative of a sub-block of our experimental sequence (see~\seeFig{intro}-A), % and~\seeFig{results_raw}),
we show %in the top plot
the actual events which are observed by the agent (TD),
along with the (hidden) dynamics of the true probability bias $P_{\text{true}}$ (blue line),
the value inferred by a leaky integrator ($P_{\text{leaky}}$, orange line)
and the results of the BBCP model
in estimating the probability bias $P_{\text{BBCP}}$ (green line),
along with $.05$ and $.95$ quantiles (shaded area).
This shows that for the BBCP model,
the accuracy of the estimated value of the probability bias
is higher than for the leaky integrator.
Below we show the belief (as grayscales) for the different possible run lengths.
%as a function of the trial number.
%A darker color denotes a higher probability.
The green and orange line correspond to the mean run-length which is inferred,
respectively, by the BBCP and leaky models:
Note that in the BBCP, while it takes some trials to detect switches,
they are in general correctly identified (transitions between diagonal lines) and
that integration is thus faster than for the leaky integrator,
as illustrated by the inferred value of the probability bias.
}
\label{fig:Bayesianchangepoint}
\end{figure}
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%: 2Ba precision in our belief of \hat{p}
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
There is a crucial difference between the forgetful agent presented above
%\AM{WE CAN SKIP THIS:which believes that changes occur at a constant rate ($\hat{x_2}^t=h$, see~\seeEq{leaky2})}
and an ideal agent which would invert the Binary Switching Model (BSM, see~\seeEq{bsm}).
Indeed, at any trial during the experiment,
the agent may infer beliefs about the probability of the volatility $x_2^t$
which itself is driving the trajectory of the probability bias $x_1^t$.
Knowing that the latter is piece-wise constant,
an agent may have a belief over the number of trials since the last switch.
This number, that is called the \emph{run-length} $r^t$, is useful in two manners.
First, it allows the agent to restrict the prediction $\hat{x_1}^{t+1}$ of $x_1^{t+1}$
only based on those samples produced since the last switch, from $t-r^t$ until $t$.
% and which we denote as $x_0^{(r^t)}=x_0^{r^t:t}$ .
Indeed, the samples $x_0^t$ which occurred before the last switch
were drawn independently from the present true value $x_1^t$
and thus cannot help estimating the latter.
Second, it is known that for this estimate, the precision
(the inverse of variance) on the estimate $\hat{x_1}^{t+1}$
grows linearly with the number of samples:
The longer the run-length, the sharper the corresponding (probabilistic) belief.
We have designed an agent inverting the BSM by extending
the Bayesian Change-Point (BCP) detection model~\citep{AdamsMackay2007}.
The latter model defines the agent as an inversion of a switching generative model
for which the observed data (input) is Gaussian.
We present here an exact solution for the case of the BSM, where the input is binary. % as in the BSM (see~\seeEq{bsm}).
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
%: 2Bb prediction / update cycle
%-------------------------------------------------------------%
In order to define in all generality the switch detection model,
we will initially describe the fundamental steps leading to its construction,
while providing the full algorithmic details in~\seeApp{bcp}.
% by~\seeEq{run_length} (more details on this derivation in~\seeApp{bcp})