ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理科学进展 ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (9): 1606-1628.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2026.1606 cstr: 32111.14.2026.1606

• 研究方法 • 上一篇    下一篇

求助决策研究的认知计算框架

罗浩诚1, 杜伟2, 魏琏厅1, 周晓林1, 高晓雪1   

  1. 1华东师范大学心理与认知科学学院, 上海市心理健康与危机干预重点实验室, 上海 200062;
    2北京大学心理与认知科学学院, 北京 100871
  • 收稿日期:2025-08-04 出版日期:2026-09-15 发布日期:2026-07-20
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目(32371094)资助

A cognitive-computational framework for studying help-seeking decision-making

LUO Haocheng1, DU Wei2, WEI Lianting1, ZHOU Xiaolin1, GAO Xiaoxue1   

  1. 1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China;
    2School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2025-08-04 Online:2026-09-15 Published:2026-07-20

摘要: 面对难以解决的问题时, 个体需要权衡利弊决定是否或向谁主动求助以获得他人帮助。这一求助决策是人类合作和适应的重要基础。然而, 以往碎片化、非定量化的研究视角与方法不利于系统性知识体系的构建, 亦难以定量解析核心认知成分的权衡和整合过程, 因此求助决策的认知计算与神经机制至今仍不清晰。本文应用整合与量化的视角, 提出求助决策研究的认知计算框架: (1)梳理理论与实证研究, 提炼核心认知成分, 提出决策的产生、动态调整和互动双方特征的调节这三个求助决策研究的关键环节; (2)将理性和有限理性决策理论深化拓展并应用于求助决策研究, 构建一套系统的候选认知计算模型假设; (3)提出未来求助决策机制研究的关键科学问题与研究方法展望。

关键词: 求助决策, 认知计算框架, 决策产生, 动态调整, 互动双方特征

Abstract: When faced with challenging problems, individuals need to weigh the pros and cons to decide whether and from whom to seek help in order to obtain assistance from others. Such help-seeking decision-making constitutes a crucial foundation for human cooperation and adaptation. However, fragmented and non-quantitative research perspectives and methods in previous studies have hindered the construction of a systematic knowledge framework and limited the quantitative analysis of the trade-offs and integration of core cognitive components. Consequently, the cognitive-computational and neural mechanisms underlying help-seeking decisions remain poorly understood. From an integrated and quantitative perspective, this review proposes a cognitive-computational framework for studying help-seeking decision-making.
First, this review synthesizes previous theoretical and empirical studies to address the fragmentation of existing research on help-seeking. Although previous studies have identified a variety of factors related to help seeking, these factors have often been examined separately, making it difficult to construct a systematic account of help-seeking decision-making. To address this issue, the present review summarizes three stages of the help-seeking process—need perception, interpersonal request, and reciprocal exchange—and distills three corresponding core cognitive components: perceived help-seeking benefit, anticipated social rejection cost, and anticipated reciprocity anxiety cost. On this basis, the review further proposes three key aspects for studying help-seeking decision-making: decision generation, dynamic adjustment, and the moderating role of dyadic interaction features.
Second, this review further extends and applies rational and bounded rationality decision theories to the study of help-seeking decision-making, thereby constructing a systematic set of candidate cognitive-computational model hypotheses based on the three key aspects. These model hypotheses include rational models, bounded rational heuristic models, and hybrid models combining the two. Rational models assume that individuals weigh and integrate different cognitive components, including perceived benefits and anticipated costs, in a relatively systematic manner, so that help-seeking decisions are generated and dynamically adjusted through value-based trade-offs, integration, and social learning. In contrast, bounded rational heuristic models assume that, under conditions such as uncertainty, limited information, and cognitive constraints, individuals may actively ignore part of the available information and rely on simpler decision rules or more limited processing strategies, thereby making decisions more quickly and with lower cognitive demands, and in some cases even more accurately. In addition, this review proposes hybrid models that combine rational and bounded rational heuristic strategies, thereby extending existing accounts of how help-seeking strategies may shift between these two modes and suggesting that rational and bounded rational heuristic processes are better understood not as a static dichotomy, but as dynamically interacting processes within individuals.
Third, based on the proposed cognitive-computational model hypotheses, this review outlines key scientific questions and methodological prospects for future research on the cognitive-computational and neural mechanisms underlying help-seeking decision-making. Future research needs to clarify when individuals rely on rational or bounded rational heuristic strategies, how core cognitive components are represented, weighed, and integrated to generate and adjust help-seeking decisions, and how dyadic interaction features and other individual difference factors shape these processes. Methodologically, future studies should develop interactive paradigms that can repeatedly elicit and quantitatively measure help-seeking decisions, while collecting behavioral data to test, compare, and refine rational models, bounded rational heuristic models, and hybrid models, and to combine computational modeling with neuroimaging methods such as fMRI, EEG, and MEG to reveal the cognitive-computational and neural mechanisms underlying help-seeking decision-making. In addition, future studies could incorporate relevant individual-difference indicators, thereby providing a quantitative basis for the precise identification of related problems and for targeted intervention.
Overall, this review addresses the fragmentation and non-quantitative nature of previous help-seeking research by proposing an integrated cognitive-computational framework. It summarizes three stages of the help-seeking process, distills the corresponding core cognitive components, constructs a systematic set of candidate cognitive-computational model hypotheses, and outlines key scientific questions and methodological prospects for future research. Together, these contributions provide a foundation for future research on the cognitive-computational and neural mechanisms underlying help-seeking decision-making and related domains.

Key words: help-seeking decision-making, cognitive-computational framework, decision generation, dynamic adjustment, dyadic interaction features

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