# Cognitive psychology: computing the value of the choices we do not make

## TL;DR

This paper explores how people evaluate choices they didn't make using reinforcement learning and computational models.

## Contribution

The study introduces a new method to analyze unchosen action values using computational modeling.

## Key findings

- Researchers found that people update the value of unchosen actions during decision-making.
- The study used computational models to track how choices and their alternatives are evaluated.

## Abstract

Reflecting on choices we did make and those we could have made is very common. In a recent study in Science Advances, researchers used a reinforcement learning paradigm together with computational modeling to study the processes underlying the value update of unchosen actions.