Distinct forms of uncertainty guide information seeking and subjective confidence

Abstract

Humans and other animals seek information to improve their cognition and behaviour. Theories in cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology and animal cognition widely assume a strong connection between information seeking behaviour and subjective feelings of confidence. However, it remains unclear whether information seeking and subjective confidence are truly driven by the same underlying mechanisms. Here, across a series of experiments in adults, we show that information seeking and subjective confidence can be dissociated and be influenced differently by distinct forms of uncertainty. In particular, we find that information seeking is strongly driven by uncertainty in sampled sensory evidence (sensory uncertainty) while confidence is strongly driven by uncertainty caused by decision boundaries (decisional uncertainty). This ability to dissociate the two suggests that the computations in the mind and brain that generate confidence and information seeking are not identical, as separate kinds of uncertainty can modulate these behaviours. This dissociation has implications for research using information seeking as a window into subjective confidence and self-awareness in nonverbal animals and preverbal infants.

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