Decision rule inference limits social escape from learning traps

Individual learners often show a tendency to engage in self-reinforcing avoidance, a pattern referred to as a learning trap. Across five experiments, we investigated the extent to which previously trapped learners can escape via social observational learning. While social observational learning did help a significant number of trapped learners escape, the majority of trapped learners remained trapped even after observing a partner demonstrate an optimal decision rule. Across several follow-up experiments, we unpack possible factors which limited the effectiveness of social observational learning. Overall, the results suggest that social decision rule inference (inferring a partner's decision rule from observed choices) was a key bottleneck for observational learning. Simulations show that these results were unanticipated by a leading model of social reward learning, and highlight a central role for inference in social learning.