AUTHOR=Osman Magda , Speekenbrink Maarten 

TITLE=Prediction and Control in a Dynamic Environment

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00068

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00068

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>The present study compared the accuracy of cue-outcome knowledge gained during prediction-based and control-based learning in stable and unstable dynamic environments. Participants either learnt to make cue-interventions in order to control an outcome, or learnt to predict the outcome from observing changes to the cue values. Study 1 (<italic>N</italic> = 60) revealed that in tests of control, after a short period of familiarization, performance of Predictors was equivalent to Controllers. Study 2 (<italic>N</italic> = 28) showed that Controllers showed equivalent task knowledge when to compared to Predictors. Though both Controllers and Predictors showed good performance at test, overall Controllers showed an advantage. The cue-outcome knowledge acquired during learning was sufficiently flexible to enable successful transfer to tests of control and prediction.</p>