We recently developed a process model of the cognition involved in exploratory choice, e.g. of the kind exhibited when an experienced computer user has to use unfamiliar software to perform a task without instruction. The model was in many respects "rational" in the way it took account of the costs and benefits of its different behaviours. Subsequently, I have analysed the "rationally optimal" strategy for such exploratory choice. The analysis shows in what ways the model is and is not optimal, and provides guidance for a revised model which provides a discrete, symbolic approximation to the optimal strategy. The analysis has potential application to a wide range of choice situations, included but not limited to the design of computer menus.
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