Deontic actions are actions for which the underlying policy has acquired a deontic value; namely, the shared, or socially admitted value of a policy (Constant et al., 2019). A deontic action is guided by the consideration of “what would a typical other do in my situation.” For instance, stopping at the red traffic light at 4 am when no one is present may be viewed as such a deontically afforded action.
This also roughly corresponds to the distinction between representationalism and dynamicism.
In humans and other animals, the distinction between direct and amortised optimisation manifests as planning-as-inference vs. deontic action (Constant et al., 2021, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.598733/full):
This also roughly corresponds to the distinction between representationalism and dynamicism.