Giovanni Pezzulo
Biographic Data
| ID | 1291997 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Giovanni Pezzulo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Giovanni |
| FAMILY NAME | Pezzulo |
| SIGNATURE | PEZZULO G |
| AFFILIATIONS | National Research Council |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6813-8282 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Limb apraxia and active inference in the visuomotor pathways
This study presents a unified neurocomputational account of apraxia within the visuomotor system using the active inference framework. In this framework, the brain encodes a generative model of the causes of sensory observations and continually reduces the surprise (or, more formally, variational free energy) associated with these observations. Our goal is to illustrate how the neuroanatomical and neurofunctional organization of the visuomotor sy…
Transitive inference as probabilistic preference learning
Structuring the environment nudges participants toward hierarchical over shortest path planning
Effective planning is crucial for navigating complex environments and achieving goals efficiently. In this study, we investigated how environmental structure influences the selection of planning strategies. Forty-two participants navigated a space station to collect colored spheres, with environments either structured (spheres grouped by color) or unstructured (spheres scattered randomly). We tested three types of plans: hierarchical (grouping sp…
Evidence or Confidence: What Is Really Monitored during a Decision
Assessing our confidence in the choices we make is important to making adaptive decisions, and it is thus no surprise that we excel in this ability. However, standard models of decision-making, such as the drift-diffusion model (DDM), treat confidence assessment as a post hoc or parallel process that does not directly influence the choice, which depends only on accumulated evidence. Here, we pursue the alternative hypothesis that what is monitore…
Risky decisions are influenced by individual attributes as a function of risk preference
It has long been assumed in economic theory that multi-attribute decisions involving several attributes or dimensions - such as probabilities and amounts of money to be earned during risky choices - are resolved by first combining the attributes of each option to form an overall expected value and then comparing the expected values of the alternative options, using a unique evidence accumulation process. A plausible alternative would be performin…
Evidence for entropy maximisation in human free choice behaviour
Active Inference: The Free Energy Principle in Mind, Brain, and Behavior
The first comprehensive treatment of active inference, an integrative perspective on brain, cognition, and behavior used across multiple disciplines. Active inference is a way of understanding sentient behavior—a theory that characterizes perception, planning, and action in terms of probabilistic inference. Developed by theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston over years of groundbreaking research, active inference provides an integrated perspecti…
A reference-based theory of motivation and effort allocation
Motivation is key for performance in domains such as work, sport, and learning. Research has established that motivation and the willingness to invest effort generally increase as a function of reward. However, this view struggles to explain some empirical observations—for example, in the domain of sport, athletes sometimes appear to lose motivation when playing against weak opponents—this despite objective rewards being high. This and similar ev…
Moral decisions in the age of Covid-19: Your choices really matter
The moral decisions we make during this period, such as deciding whether to comply with quarantine rules, have unprecedented societal effects. We simulate the "escape from Milan" that occurred on March 7th-8th 2020, when many travelers moved from a high-risk zone (Milan) to southern regions of Italy (Campania and Lazio) immediately after an imminent lockdown was announced. Our simulations show that fewer than 50 active cases might have caused the…
Modelling ourselves: What the free energy principle reveals about our implicit notions of representation
Predictive processing theories are increasingly popular in philosophy of mind; such process theories often gain support from the Free Energy Principle (FEP)—a normative principle for adaptive self-organized systems. Yet there is a current and much discussed debate about conflicting philosophical interpretations of FEP, e.g., representational versus non-representational. Here we argue that these different interpretations depend on implicit assumpt…
Active Inference: A Process Theory
This article describes a process theory based on active inference and belief propagation. Starting from the premise that all neuronal processing (and action selection) can be explained by maximizing Bayesian model evidence—or minimizing variational free energy—we ask whether neuronal responses can be described as a gradient descent on variational free energy. Using a standard (Markov decision process) generative model, we derive the neuronal dyna…
The status of the simulative method in cognitive science: Current debates and future prospects
In questo lavoro sarà esaminato lo status attuale dell’approccio simulativo nelle scienze cognitive e nelle neuroscienze. Attraverso esempi specifici, discuteremo come idee, teorie e previsioni derivanti dalla ricerca sui sistemi artificiali abbiano contribuito significativamente al progresso scientifico nelle scienze cognitive e delle neuroscienze, spesso lavorando in sinergia con la ricerca empirica e teorica. Inoltre, l’approccio simulativo è …
Tracking and simulating dynamics of implicit stereotypes: A situated social cognition perspective
Adopting a situated social cognition perspective, we relied on different methodologies-1 computational and 3 empirical studies-to investigate social group-related specificities pertaining to implicit gender-domain stereotypes, as measured by a mouse-tracking adapted Implicit Association Test (IAT) and IAT(-like) tasks. We tested whether the emergence of implicit stereotypes was partially determined by associations congruent with the self, by visu…
Active Inference, homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control
We review a theory of homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control within the Active Inference framework. Our aim is to connect two research streams that are usually considered independently; namely, Active Inference and associative learning theories of animal behaviour. The former uses a probabilistic (Bayesian) formulation of perception and action, while the latter calls on multiple (Pavlovian, habitual, goal-directed) processes for …
Active inference and epistemic value
We offer a formal treatment of choice behavior based on the premise that agents minimize the expected free energy of future outcomes. Crucially, the negative free energy or quality of a policy can be decomposed into extrinsic and epistemic (or intrinsic) value. Minimizing expected free energy is therefore equivalent to maximizing extrinsic value or expected utility (defined in terms of prior preferences or goals), while maximizing information gai…
Modelling ourselves: What the free energy principle reveals about our implicit notions of representation
Predictive processing theories are increasingly popular in philosophy of mind; such process theories often gain support from the Free Energy Principle (FEP)—a normative principle for adaptive self-organized systems. Yet there is a current and much discussed debate about conflicting philosophical interpretations of FEP, e.g., representational versus non-representational. Here we argue that these different interpretations depend on implicit assumpt…
Tracking and simulating dynamics of implicit stereotypes: A situated social cognition perspective
Adopting a situated social cognition perspective, we relied on different methodologies-1 computational and 3 empirical studies-to investigate social group-related specificities pertaining to implicit gender-domain stereotypes, as measured by a mouse-tracking adapted Implicit Association Test (IAT) and IAT(-like) tasks. We tested whether the emergence of implicit stereotypes was partially determined by associations congruent with the self, by visu…
Active Inference, homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control
We review a theory of homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control within the Active Inference framework. Our aim is to connect two research streams that are usually considered independently; namely, Active Inference and associative learning theories of animal behaviour. The former uses a probabilistic (Bayesian) formulation of perception and action, while the latter calls on multiple (Pavlovian, habitual, goal-directed) processes for …
Active inference and epistemic value
We offer a formal treatment of choice behavior based on the premise that agents minimize the expected free energy of future outcomes. Crucially, the negative free energy or quality of a policy can be decomposed into extrinsic and epistemic (or intrinsic) value. Minimizing expected free energy is therefore equivalent to maximizing extrinsic value or expected utility (defined in terms of prior preferences or goals), while maximizing information gai…
The status of the simulative method in cognitive science: Current debates and future prospects
In questo lavoro sarà esaminato lo status attuale dell’approccio simulativo nelle scienze cognitive e nelle neuroscienze. Attraverso esempi specifici, discuteremo come idee, teorie e previsioni derivanti dalla ricerca sui sistemi artificiali abbiano contribuito significativamente al progresso scientifico nelle scienze cognitive e delle neuroscienze, spesso lavorando in sinergia con la ricerca empirica e teorica. Inoltre, l’approccio simulativo è …
Tracking and simulating dynamics of implicit stereotypes: A situated social cognition perspective
Adopting a situated social cognition perspective, we relied on different methodologies-1 computational and 3 empirical studies-to investigate social group-related specificities pertaining to implicit gender-domain stereotypes, as measured by a mouse-tracking adapted Implicit Association Test (IAT) and IAT(-like) tasks. We tested whether the emergence of implicit stereotypes was partially determined by associations congruent with the self, by visu…
Active Inference: A Process Theory
This article describes a process theory based on active inference and belief propagation. Starting from the premise that all neuronal processing (and action selection) can be explained by maximizing Bayesian model evidence—or minimizing variational free energy—we ask whether neuronal responses can be described as a gradient descent on variational free energy. Using a standard (Markov decision process) generative model, we derive the neuronal dyna…
Moral decisions in the age of Covid-19: Your choices really matter
The moral decisions we make during this period, such as deciding whether to comply with quarantine rules, have unprecedented societal effects. We simulate the "escape from Milan" that occurred on March 7th-8th 2020, when many travelers moved from a high-risk zone (Milan) to southern regions of Italy (Campania and Lazio) immediately after an imminent lockdown was announced. Our simulations show that fewer than 50 active cases might have caused the…
Modelling ourselves: What the free energy principle reveals about our implicit notions of representation
Predictive processing theories are increasingly popular in philosophy of mind; such process theories often gain support from the Free Energy Principle (FEP)—a normative principle for adaptive self-organized systems. Yet there is a current and much discussed debate about conflicting philosophical interpretations of FEP, e.g., representational versus non-representational. Here we argue that these different interpretations depend on implicit assumpt…
Active Inference: The Free Energy Principle in Mind, Brain, and Behavior
The first comprehensive treatment of active inference, an integrative perspective on brain, cognition, and behavior used across multiple disciplines. Active inference is a way of understanding sentient behavior—a theory that characterizes perception, planning, and action in terms of probabilistic inference. Developed by theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston over years of groundbreaking research, active inference provides an integrated perspecti…
A reference-based theory of motivation and effort allocation
Motivation is key for performance in domains such as work, sport, and learning. Research has established that motivation and the willingness to invest effort generally increase as a function of reward. However, this view struggles to explain some empirical observations—for example, in the domain of sport, athletes sometimes appear to lose motivation when playing against weak opponents—this despite objective rewards being high. This and similar ev…
Evidence or Confidence: What Is Really Monitored during a Decision
Assessing our confidence in the choices we make is important to making adaptive decisions, and it is thus no surprise that we excel in this ability. However, standard models of decision-making, such as the drift-diffusion model (DDM), treat confidence assessment as a post hoc or parallel process that does not directly influence the choice, which depends only on accumulated evidence. Here, we pursue the alternative hypothesis that what is monitore…
Risky decisions are influenced by individual attributes as a function of risk preference
It has long been assumed in economic theory that multi-attribute decisions involving several attributes or dimensions - such as probabilities and amounts of money to be earned during risky choices - are resolved by first combining the attributes of each option to form an overall expected value and then comparing the expected values of the alternative options, using a unique evidence accumulation process. A plausible alternative would be performin…
Evidence for entropy maximisation in human free choice behaviour
Transitive inference as probabilistic preference learning
Structuring the environment nudges participants toward hierarchical over shortest path planning
Effective planning is crucial for navigating complex environments and achieving goals efficiently. In this study, we investigated how environmental structure influences the selection of planning strategies. Forty-two participants navigated a space station to collect colored spheres, with environments either structured (spheres grouped by color) or unstructured (spheres scattered randomly). We tested three types of plans: hierarchical (grouping sp…
Limb apraxia and active inference in the visuomotor pathways
This study presents a unified neurocomputational account of apraxia within the visuomotor system using the active inference framework. In this framework, the brain encodes a generative model of the causes of sensory observations and continually reduces the surprise (or, more formally, variational free energy) associated with these observations. Our goal is to illustrate how the neuroanatomical and neurofunctional organization of the visuomotor sy…
Computer Science (12 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Cognitive psychology (9 works) · Embodied and Extended Cognition (8 works) · Artificial Intelligence (6 works) · Artificial Intelligence (6 works) · Inference (6 works) · Cognition (5 works) · Cognitive science (5 works) · Mathematics (5 works)