Big goals can feel overwhelming. Here’s how to stay on track Aiming for something big? Break that big goal into smaller, manageable steps. Then narrow your focus. This will keep your eyes on the prize.

What makes new goals difficult to reach? As I discussed with @alisonpstevens.bsky.social for @sciencenews.bsky.social,
the issue might be holding precise but costly memories of the target. As we internalize rules for what success looks like, goals become more attainable. @annecollins.bsky.social

A habit and working memory model as an alternative account of human reward-based learning Nature Human Behaviour - In this study, Collins proposes an alternative dual-process (working memory and habit) model of reinforcement learning in humans.

My paper is out!
Computational modeling of error patterns during reward-based learning show evidence that habit learning (value free!) supplements working memory in 7 human data sets.
rdcu.be/eQjLN

Next week, I'll be presenting my work with @annecollins.bsky.social @collinsccnlab.bsky.social on reward function compression in human RL at @sfn.org. Join me at the "Adaptive Choice" nanosymposium on Nov 16th or dm me if you'd like to meet up!

Assistant Professor - Cognitive Sciences University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!

Come work with us! UC Irvine Cognitive Sciences is looking for a new Assistant Professor to join our team: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09896

I'm not on the committee, but happy to talk if you're interested.

That's a fascinating argument, thanks for bringing it to my attention, Jim!

Reward function compression facilitates goal-dependent reinforcement learning Reinforcement learning agents learn from rewards, but humans can uniquely assign value to novel, abstract outcomes in a goal-dependent manner. However, this flexibility is cognitively costly, making l...

📢 New preprint!
How do humans learn from arbitrary, abstract goals? We show that, when goal spaces can be compressed, costly working-memory processes give way to internalized reward functions, enabling efficient goal-dependent reinforcement learning. @annecollins.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2509.06810

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

UC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

My lab at UCLA is hiring 1-2 PhD students this cycle!

Join us to work at the intersection of cognitive science and AI applied to pressing societal challenges like climate change.

More info about me: rachit-dubey.github.io

My lab: ucla-cocopol.github.io

Please help repost/spread the word!

JOB ALERT: Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Postdoc position in Osaka, Japan! Possible start in October 2025 (contact me ASAP), or from April 2026. PLEASE REPOST! #postdocjobs #neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychscisky #compneurosky #neurojobs 1/

🚨 We’re hiring! The Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Virginia Tech is looking for a postdoc to join our team studying the neural + computational mechanisms of structure learning and flexible cognition: ccnvt.github.io#positions

Generative AI is a cultural transmission technology:
it plays a growing role in generation, selection and transmission of ideas/opinions in human society 🧠🔄🌐

And yet we understand very little of this dynamics at this point 🤔❓

A step forward is our #ICLR2025 paper !👇

Work led by Jérémy Perez with Corentin Leger @kovacgrgur.bsky.social Cédric Colas @clemmoulinfrier.bsky.social @pyoudeyer.bsky.social @maximederex.bsky.social

When LLMs Play the Telephone Game: Cumulative Changes and Attractors in Iterated Cultural Transmissions As large language models (LLMs) start interacting with each other and generating an increasing amount of text online, it becomes crucial to better understand how information is transformed as it passe...

Find out more here arxiv.org/abs/2407.04503 or check out our companion website sites.google.com/view/telepho...

What's wrong with evaluating #LLMs after a single interaction? Come find out @iclr-conf.bsky.social and learn how cultural attraction theory can help us do better. Poster #288, 10 am.

This paper concludes a long, exciting journey, which started several years ago when I first met Moshe. It's been a fantastic ride! Thank you Moshe, Bar Ilan University, and Onward Israel for enabling it ♥️ and the editors Deniz Vatansever and Jessica Andrews-Hanna for inviting us to contribute!

Spontaneous thought as play: the value of fictional goals in the default mode network Given its prevalence in our wakeful mental activity, spontaneous thought (ST) has been attributed several roles in cognition, most of which engage the…

In light of its similar merits, ST deserves at least the same care, protection, and appreciation we devote to children’s play. Get access to the full article here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @elsevierconnect.bsky.social

Similarly, we propose that ST provides a cognitive platform for simulating outcomes and ideas that extend beyond immediate constraints. As long as a fictional goal provides enough structure, even unrealistic STs can contribute to our cognitive flexibility.

In play, children engage in "fictional" goals. @junyi.bsky.social, @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social and Laura Schulz argued that these seemingly trivial activities enhance children's capacity to plan, innovate, and simulate complex scenarios.

To answer this question, we draw an analogy between ST and children's play.

The usefulness of ST is often connected to the proactive simulation of future scenarios related to our goals. But what about ST that engages in frivolous or highly unlikely situations?

Spontaneous thought (ST, the relatively unrestricted thought process that accompanies much of our waking life) benefits cognition in several ways, from memory consolidation to mood enhancement. Check out work by Judith Mildner and @dianatamir.bsky.social for an awesome recent perspective on this.

Have you ever gotten lost in fantasies and thought to yourself, "What a waste of time"? Well, think again! In our new piece in Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Moshe Bar and I explain one reason why spontaneous thoughts, even when seemingly useless, may be key to human intelligence.

Stop by @neuripsconf.bsky.social poster #3909 11 am - 2 pm today if you want to wish me a happy birthday, hear about goal selection in RL, or both! @pyoudeyer.bsky.social @annecollins.bsky.social

I'm excited to announce that this work has been accepted at
@blog.neurips.cc.web.brid.gy 🧠🤖 We hope to spark conversations on goal selection in biological and artificial agents.

Check it out at openreview.net/forum?id=Gbq...

With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, & Anne Collins

No time to read? A 5-minute summary of this paper is now out on YouTube! youtu.be/fkPt9a5OvTs?...

Thanks for flagging @ebonawitz.bsky.social! Here it is osf.io/preprints/ps...

How do we decide which goals to pursue? Here, we introduce the notion of *latent learning progress* to explain human goal selection and inspire advances in the development of autotelic machines. osf.io/preprints/ps...
With Cédric Colas, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, and Anne Collins

An illustration showing a soccer ball shaping a net of neurons, trying to convey the idea that "goals" shape cognition

The notion that goals are central to human cognition is intuitive, yet learning and decision-making researchers have often overlooked the topic. In this Trends in Cognitive Sciences review, @annecollins.bsky.social and I propose it’s time to start studying goals in their own right 🧠 t.co/He6PIpQdt9