Flexible decisions arise from resource-rational memory sampling

Abstract

Flexible decision making depends on retrieving and recombining memories. Yet because this process unfolds covertly, its governing principles remain unknown. Here we use gaze reinstatement to uncover the hidden dynamics and computational logic of memory retrieval during flexible behavior. As people deliberated on a blank screen, they directed their gaze toward the encoding locations of decision-relevant experiences, and these fixations shaped their evolving choice. A task-optimized recurrent neural network captured both their behavior and gaze patterns by learning to balance retrieval costs against expected gains in decision quality. These results demonstrate that flexible decisions emerge from a resource-rational process in which memories are sampled to construct decision variables on the fly.