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Main Authors: Zhao, Chenran, Shi, Dianxi, Wang, Mengzhu, Xia, Jianqiang, Yang, Huanhuan, Jin, Songchang, Yang, Shaowu, Qiu, Chunping
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.01979
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author Zhao, Chenran
Shi, Dianxi
Wang, Mengzhu
Xia, Jianqiang
Yang, Huanhuan
Jin, Songchang
Yang, Shaowu
Qiu, Chunping
author_facet Zhao, Chenran
Shi, Dianxi
Wang, Mengzhu
Xia, Jianqiang
Yang, Huanhuan
Jin, Songchang
Yang, Shaowu
Qiu, Chunping
contents Current Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning (HRL) algorithms excel in long-horizon sequential decision-making tasks but still face two challenges: delay effects and spurious correlations. To address them, we propose a causal HRL approach called D3HRL. First, D3HRL models delayed effects as causal relationships across different time spans and employs distributed causal discovery to learn these relationships. Second, it employs conditional independence testing to eliminate spurious correlations. Finally, D3HRL constructs and trains hierarchical policies based on the identified true causal relationships. These three steps are iteratively executed, gradually exploring the complete causal chain of the task. Experiments conducted in 2D-MineCraft and MiniGrid show that D3HRL demonstrates superior sensitivity to delay effects and accurately identifies causal relationships, leading to reliable decision-making in complex environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_01979
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle D3HRL: A Distributed Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning Approach Based on Causal Discovery and Spurious Correlation Detection
Zhao, Chenran
Shi, Dianxi
Wang, Mengzhu
Xia, Jianqiang
Yang, Huanhuan
Jin, Songchang
Yang, Shaowu
Qiu, Chunping
Machine Learning
Current Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning (HRL) algorithms excel in long-horizon sequential decision-making tasks but still face two challenges: delay effects and spurious correlations. To address them, we propose a causal HRL approach called D3HRL. First, D3HRL models delayed effects as causal relationships across different time spans and employs distributed causal discovery to learn these relationships. Second, it employs conditional independence testing to eliminate spurious correlations. Finally, D3HRL constructs and trains hierarchical policies based on the identified true causal relationships. These three steps are iteratively executed, gradually exploring the complete causal chain of the task. Experiments conducted in 2D-MineCraft and MiniGrid show that D3HRL demonstrates superior sensitivity to delay effects and accurately identifies causal relationships, leading to reliable decision-making in complex environments.
title D3HRL: A Distributed Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning Approach Based on Causal Discovery and Spurious Correlation Detection
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.01979