Sensitivity to Expected Negative Outcomes during Approach-Avoidance Conflict in a Trans-Diagnostic Patient Sample: A Computational (Active Inference) Modeling Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (9) ◽  
pp. S336
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
Namik Kirlic ◽  
Jennifer Stewart ◽  
James Touthang ◽  
Sahib Khalsa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Inference ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Patient Sample ◽  
Modeling Approach ◽  
Approach Avoidance

Sensitivity to expected negative outcomes during approach-avoidance conflict in a trans-diagnostic patient sample: a computational (active inference) modeling approach

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
Namik Kirlic ◽  
Jennifer L. Stewart ◽  
James Touthang ◽  
Rayus Kuplicki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Decision Uncertainty ◽  
Modeling Approach ◽  
Affective Stimuli ◽  
Approach Avoidance

Background: Sacrificing rewarding aspects of one’s life due to potential aversive outcomes is an important characteristic of multiple psychiatric disorders. Such decisions occur during approach-avoidance conflict (AAC), which has become the topic of a growing number of behavioral and neuroimaging studies. Here we describe a novel computational modeling approach to studying AAC.Methods: A previously-validated AAC task was completed by 479 participants including healthy controls (HCs), and individuals with depression, anxiety, and/or substance use disorders (SUDs), as part of the Tulsa 1000 study. An active inference model was utilized to identify parameters corresponding to the subjective aversiveness of affective stimuli (VNegative), the subjective value of points that could be won (VPoints), and decision uncertainty (β). We used correlational analyses to examine relationships to self-reported experiences during the task, analyses of variance to examine diagnostic group differences (depression/anxiety, substance use, HCs), and exploratory machine learning analyses to examine the contribution of dimensional clinical and neuropsychological measures.Results: Model parameters correlated with self-reported experience and reaction times during the task in expected directions. Relatve to HCs, both clinical groups showed higher VNegative values, and the SUD group exhibited less decision uncertainty (lower β values). Machine learning analyses highlighted several clinical domains (i.e., alcohol use, personality, working memory) potentially contributing to task parameters.Conclusions: Our results suggest that avoidance behavior in individuals with depression, anxiety, and SUDs may be driven by increased sensitivity to predicted negative outcomes and that insufficient decision uncertainty (overconfidence) may also further contribute to avoidance in substance use disorder.

scholarly journals Dopaminergic medication reduces striatal sensitivity to negative outcomes in Parkinson’s disease

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brónagh McCoy ◽  
Sara Jahfari ◽  
Gwenda Engels ◽  
Tomas Knapen ◽  
Jan Theeuwes
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Learning Differences ◽  
Dopaminergic Medication ◽  
Learning Rates ◽  
Approach Avoidance ◽  
Midbrain Dopamine

AbstractReduced levels of dopamine in Parkinson’s disease (PD) contribute to changes in learning, resulting from the loss of midbrain dopamine neurons that transmit a teaching signal to the striatum. Dopamine medication used by PD patients has previously been linked to either behavioral changes during learning itself or adjustments in approach and avoidance behavior after learning. To date, however, very little is known about the specific relationship between dopaminergic medication-driven differences during learning and subsequent changes in approach/avoidance tendencies in individual patients. We assessed 24 PD patients on and off dopaminergic medication and 24 healthy controls (HC) performing a probabilistic reinforcement learning task, while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. During learning, medication in PD reduced an overemphasis on negative outcomes. When patients were on medication, learning rates were lower for negative (but not positive) outcomes and concurrent striatal BOLD responses showed reduced prediction error sensitivity. Medication-induced shifts in negative learning rates were predictive of changes in approach/avoidance choice patterns after learning, and these changes were accompanied by striatal BOLD response alterations. These findings highlight dopamine-driven learning differences in PD and provide new insight into how changes in learning impact the transfer of learned value to approach/avoidance responses in novel contexts.

scholarly journals Greater decision uncertainty characterizes a transdiagnostic patient sample during approach-avoidance conflict: a computational modeling approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
Namik Kirlic ◽  
Jennifer L. Stewart ◽  
James Touthang ◽  
Rayus Kuplicki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Full Sample ◽  
Decision Uncertainty ◽  
Emotional Conflict ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Validation Parameters ◽  
Approach Avoidance

Background: Imbalances in approach-avoidance conflict (AAC) decision-making (e.g. sacrificing rewards to avoid negative outcomes) are considered central to multiple psychiatric disorders. We used computational modeling to examine two factors often not distinguished within model-free analyses of AAC: decision uncertainty (DU) and sensitivity to negative outcomes vs. reward (emotional conflict; EC).Methods: A previously-validated AAC task was completed by 477 participants, including healthy controls (HCs; N=59), individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs; N=159) and individuals with depression and/or anxiety (DEP/ANX; N=260) disorders without SUDs. Using an active inference model, we estimated individual-level values for a model parameter (β) reflecting DU as well as another reflecting EC. Analyses were also repeated in a subsample propensity matched on age and general intelligence.Results: The model showed high accuracy (73%). As further validation, parameters correlated with reaction times and self-reported task motivations in expected directions. EC further correlated with self-reported anxiety during the task (r=0.32, p<0.001), while DU correlated with self-reported difficulty making decisions (r=0.45, p<0.001). Compared to HCs, both DEP/ANX and SUDs showed higher DU in the propensity matched sample (t=2.16, p = .03; and t=2.88, p = .005, respectively), with analogous results in the full sample; SUDs also showed lower EC in the full sample (t=3.17, p=0.002). Limitations: This study is limited by clinical sample heterogeneity and an inability to examine learning.Conclusions: These results suggest that reduced confidence in how to act, rather than increased emotional conflict, may explain maladaptive approach-avoidance behaviors in psychiatric disorders.

Tinkering with cognitive gadgets: Cultural evolutionary psychology meets active inference

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Benjamin Badcock ◽  
Axel Constant ◽  
Maxwell James Désormeau Ramstead
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Innovative Research ◽  
Cognitive Faculties ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Cognitive Gadgets offers a new, convincing perspective on the origins of our distinctive cognitive faculties, coupled with a clear, innovative research program. Although we broadly endorse Heyes’ ideas, we raise some concerns about her characterisation of evolutionary psychology and the relationship between biology and culture, before discussing the potential fruits of examining cognitive gadgets through the lens of active inference.

Oral Approach Avoidance

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 355-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Godinho ◽  
Margarida V. Garrido ◽  
Oleksandr V. Horchak
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Oral Movements ◽  
Motivational States ◽  
Oral Approach ◽  
Approach Avoidance ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
European Family

Abstract. Words whose articulation resembles ingestion movements are preferred to words mimicking expectoration movements. This so-called in-out effect, suggesting that the oral movements caused by consonantal articulation automatically activate concordant motivational states, was already replicated in languages belonging to Germanic (e.g., German and English) and Italic (e.g., Portuguese) branches of the Indo-European family. However, it remains unknown whether such preference extends to the Indo-European branches whose writing system is based on the Cyrillic rather than Latin alphabet (e.g., Ukrainian), or whether it occurs in languages not belonging to the Indo-European family (e.g., Turkish). We replicated the in-out effect in two high-powered experiments ( N = 274), with Ukrainian and Turkish native speakers, further supporting an embodied explanation for this intriguing preference.

Feeling Like a Burden

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-238
Author(s):  
James H. Wirth ◽  
Ashley Batts Allen ◽  
Emily M. Zitek
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Self Compassion

Abstract. We examined the negative outcomes, particularly social costs that result when a person harms their group by performing poorly, and whether self-compassion could buffer against these negative outcomes. In Studies 1 and 2, participants performed poorly and harmed their group or performed equal to their group. Harmful poor-performing participants felt more burdensome, experienced more negative affect, felt more ostracized, anticipated more exclusion, and felt lowered self-esteem than equal-performing participants. Studies 3 and 4 disentangled poor performance from harming a group. Poor-performing participants either harmed the group or caused no harm. Harmful poor-performing participants felt more burdensome and anticipated more exclusion, indicating the additional social consequences of a harmful poor performance over a non-harmful performance. Across studies, trait self-compassion was associated with reduced negative effects.

Workplace Ostracism and Its Negative Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Zheng ◽  
Jun Yang ◽  
Hang-Yue Ngo ◽  
Xiao-Yu Liu ◽  
Wengjuan Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Workplace Ostracism ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Workplace ostracism, conceived as to being ignored or excluded by others, has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. One essential topic in this area is how to reduce or even eliminate the negative consequences of workplace ostracism. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the current study assesses the relationship between workplace ostracism and its negative outcomes, as well as the moderating role played by psychological capital, using data collected from 256 employees in three companies in the northern part of China. The study yields two important findings: (1) workplace ostracism is positively related to intention to leave and (2) psychological capital moderates the effect of workplace ostracism on affective commitment and intention to leave. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for organizations and employees, along with recommendations for future research.

Instruction-Based Approach-Avoidance Effects

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Van Dessel ◽  
Jan De Houwer ◽  
Anne Gast ◽  
Colin Tucker Smith
Keyword(s):  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Avoidance Training ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Approach And Avoidance ◽  
Evaluative Priming ◽  
Blacks And Whites ◽  
Approach Avoidance ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Explicit Measures

Prior research suggests that repeatedly approaching or avoiding a certain stimulus changes the liking of this stimulus. We investigated whether these effects of approach and avoidance training occur also when participants do not perform these actions but are merely instructed about the stimulus-action contingencies. Stimulus evaluations were registered using both implicit (Implicit Association Test and evaluative priming) and explicit measures (valence ratings). Instruction-based approach-avoidance effects were observed for relatively neutral fictitious social groups (i.e., Niffites and Luupites), but not for clearly valenced well-known social groups (i.e., Blacks and Whites). We conclude that instructions to approach or avoid stimuli can provide sufficient bases for establishing both implicit and explicit evaluations of novel stimuli and discuss several possible reasons for why similar instruction-based approach-avoidance effects were not found for valenced well-known stimuli.

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