Memory Learning: A Computational Approach to Estimating Memory Bias in Human Decision Making

Abstract Number:

3592 

Submission Type:

Contributed Abstract 

Contributed Abstract Type:

Paper 

Participants:

Connor Thompson (1), Nathan Sandholtz (1)

Institutions:

(1) Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Co-Author:

Nathan Sandholtz  
Brigham Young University

First Author:

Connor Thompson  
Brigham Young University

Presenting Author:

Connor Thompson  
N/A

Abstract Text:

In this paper we introduce a novel inverse decision problem formulation which we call "Memory Learning". Given a data set of human decisions and their consequences (i.e. rewards), we consider the situation in which the decisions appear to be "sub-optimal" according to a statistical analysis of the data. Our proposed method seeks to explain these deviations by learning a reweighting of observations, or 'memories', such that the analytical model trained on the reweighted observations matches the observed human behavior. We interpret the reweighting of the observations as a representation of the memory bias inherent in the decision-maker's choices. To bridge the gap between theoretical models and real-world decisions we explore various strategies for learning optimal weightings, employing both analytical and simulation methods. Finally, we introduce a unique iterative resampling approach to apply our method to the well-studied fourth down decision in professional football. Remarkably, our research reveals that our Memory Learning approach outperforms traditional classification methods in predicting coach decisions.

Keywords:

sport|inverse optimization|fourth down|bootstrap|resampling|

Sponsors:

Section on Statistics in Sports

Tracks:

Miscellaneous

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