‘We are social creatures that learn from each other every day’: Manikya Alister explores social learning and decision-making
Early influences
Manikya Alister, a PhD student at the Complex Human Data Hub, has always been fascinated by how people learn and make decisions. His upbringing in a small country town known for its “alternative” population and unconventional beliefs significantly influenced his future research interests.
He explains, “I noticed how so many people rejected conventional wisdom, distrusting experts and often falling down the rabbit hole of far-flung conspiracy theories. I was therefore curious about how, despite having similar access to the same information, people diverged so much in what they believed.”
During his undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland, Manikya developed an interest in cognitive explanations for these differences in beliefs: that for the sake of mental efficiency, people take cognitive short cuts and rely on biases to determine who to trust and how to evaluate information.
“I found this explanation highly compelling, and decided I wanted to further investigate how these kinds of short cuts may both be necessary for us to efficiently navigate the world but can also be the cause of some of society’s most difficult challenges.”
Introduction to computational modelling
In his honours year, Manikya got his first taste of computational modelling, which involves using mathematical equations and computer simulations to understand how the mind works.
Captivated by this approach, Manikya decided to continue using computational modelling in his PhD. However, his undergraduate university had limited resources in this area, prompting his move to Melbourne.
“I came to Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, and the Complex Human Data Hub in particular, because it had a fantastic reputation for hosting some of the best computational psychologists in Australia, all studying diverse and fascinating topics.”
Current research focus
Manikya’s research focuses on understanding how people learn, form beliefs, and make decisions in social contexts where information is provided by other people. His methodology combines controlled behavioural experiments – sometimes designed to mirror real world environments like social media – with computational models. Some of his current research questions include:
- How do people make assumptions about helpfulness to learn faster and more accurately?
- How and why are people influenced by a consensus of opinions on social media?
- How can our social reasoning capacities be exploited in online contexts, such as through coordinated influence (“troll”) campaigns?
Manikya recently delivered a seminar talk: “How social information facilitates efficient cognition.”
Research findings and implications
A general finding across several of Manikya's studies is that people tend to be very trusting of social information in most contexts, which can be useful for learning and making decisions efficiently. However, this trust can be double-edged. Manikya notes that “we find it difficult to correct this trust in situations where people may not be reliable, which can leave us vulnerable to being misled.”
Through his work, Manikya enjoys being able to “contribute both theoretical knowledge about the mind (the mental algorithms people may be using in different contexts, and why) as well as inform applied questions that have implications for the real world.”
While Manikya uses controlled behavioural experiments rather than directly observing behaviour in real-world contexts, his research is still heavily informed by real-world phenomena. He concludes, “we are social creatures that learn from each other every day, so understanding how we do that, and how it may contribute to real-world societal challenges, like our lack of response to climate change or increasing political polarisation, is fascinating to me.”