scholarly journals The impact of learning opportunities on the development of learning and decision-making: an experiment with passerine birds

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Rojas-Ferrer ◽  
Julie Morand-Ferron
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Animal Cognition ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Conditional Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

Developmental context has been shown to influence learning abilities later in life, namely through experiments with nutritional and/or environmental constraints (i.e. lack of enrichment). However, little is known about the extent to which opportunities for learning affect the development of animal cognition, even though such opportunities are known to influence human cognitive development. We exposed young zebra finches ( Taenopygia guttata ) ( n = 26) to one of three experimental conditions, i.e. an environment where (i) colour cues reliably predicted the presence of food (associative learning), (ii) a combination of two-colour cues reliably predicted the presence of food (conditional learning), or (iii) colour cues were non-informative (control). After conducting two different discrimination tasks, our results showed that experience with predictive cues can cause increased choice accuracy and decision-making speed. Our first learning task showed that individuals in the associative learning treatment outperformed the control treatment, while task 2 showed that individuals in the conditional learning treatment had shorter latencies when making choices compared with the control treatment. We found no support for a speed–accuracy trade-off. This dataset provides a rare longitudinal and experimental examination of the effect of predictive versus non-predictive cues during development on the cognition of adult animals. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

scholarly journals A Diffusion Model Approach for Understanding the Impact of 17 Interventions on the Race Implicit Association Test

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Röhner ◽  
Calvin K. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Implicit Measure ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Sham Intervention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

<p>Performance on implicit measures reflects construct-specific and non-construct-specific processes. This creates an interpretive issue for understanding interventions to change implicit measures: change in performance could reflect changes in the constructs-of-interest or changes in other mental processes. We re-analyzed data from six studies (<i>N</i> = 23,342) to examine the process-level effects of 17 interventions and one sham intervention to change race Implicit Association Test (IAT) performance. Diffusion models decompose overall IAT performance (<i>D</i>-scores) into construct-specific (ease of decision-making), and non-construct-specific processes (speed-accuracy tradeoffs, non-decision-related processes like motor execution). Interventions that effectively reduced <i>D-</i>scores changed ease of decision-making on compatible and incompatible trials. They also eliminated differences in speed-accuracy tradeoffs between compatible and incompatible trials. Non-decision-related processes were impacted by two interventions only. There was little evidence that interventions had any long-term effects. These findings highlight the value of diffusion modeling for understanding the mechanisms by which interventions affect implicit measure performance.</p>

scholarly journals The impact of traumatic stress on Pavlovian biases

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. T. Ousdal ◽  
Q. J. Huys ◽  
A. M. Milde ◽  
A. R. Craven ◽  
L. Ersland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Instrumental Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Single Episode ◽  
Reinforcement Learning Models ◽  
Stress Influences ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundDisturbances in Pavlovian valuation systems are reported to follow traumatic stress exposure. However, motivated decisions are also guided by instrumental mechanisms, but to date the effect of traumatic stress on these instrumental systems remain poorly investigated. Here, we examine whether a single episode of severe traumatic stress influences flexible instrumental decisions through an impact on a Pavlovian system.MethodsTwenty-six survivors of the 2011 Norwegian terror attack and 30 matched control subjects performed an instrumental learning task in which Pavlovian and instrumental associations promoted congruent or conflicting responses. We used reinforcement learning models to infer how traumatic stress affected learning and decision-making. Based on the importance of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) for cognitive control, we also investigated if individual concentrations of Glx (=glutamate + glutamine) in dACC predicted the Pavlovian bias of choice.ResultsSurvivors of traumatic stress expressed a greater Pavlovian interference with instrumental action selection and had significantly lower levels of Glx in the dACC. Across subjects, the degree of Pavlovian interference was negatively associated with dACC Glx concentrations.ConclusionsExperiencing traumatic stress appears to render instrumental decisions less flexible by increasing the susceptibility to Pavlovian influences. An observed association between prefrontal glutamatergic levels and this Pavlovian bias provides novel insight into the neurochemical basis of decision-making, and suggests a mechanism by which traumatic stress can impair flexible instrumental behaviours.

scholarly journals A Diffusion Model Approach for Understanding the Impact of 17 Interventions on the Race Implicit Association Test

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722097448
Author(s):  
Jessica Röhner ◽  
Calvin K. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Implicit Measure ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

Performance on implicit measures reflects construct-specific and nonconstruct-specific processes. This creates an interpretive issue for understanding interventions to change implicit measures: Change in performance could reflect changes in the constructs of interest or changes in other mental processes. We reanalyzed data from six studies ( N = 23,342) to examine the process-level effects of 17 interventions and one sham intervention to change race implicit association test (IAT) performance. Diffusion models decompose overall IAT performance ( D-scores) into construct-specific (ease of decision-making) and nonconstruct-specific processes (speed–accuracy trade-offs, non-decision-related processes like motor execution). Interventions that effectively reduced D-scores changed ease of decision-making on compatible and incompatible trials. They also eliminated differences in speed–accuracy trade-offs between compatible and incompatible trials. Non-decision-related processes were affected by two interventions only. There was little evidence that interventions had any long-term effects. These findings highlight the value of diffusion modeling for understanding the mechanisms by which interventions affect implicit measure performance.

scholarly journals The impact of learning on perceptual decisions and its implication for speed-accuracy tradeoffs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
André G. Mendonça ◽  
Jan Drugowitsch ◽  
M. Inês Vicente ◽  
Eric DeWitt ◽  
Alexandre Pouget ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
History Effects ◽  
Sensory Evidence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

SUMMARYIn standard models of perceptual decision-making, noisy sensory evidence is considered to be the primary source of choice errors and the accumulation of evidence needed to overcome this noise gives rise to speed-accuracy tradeoffs. Here, we investigated how the history of recent choices and their outcomes interacts with these processes using a combination of theory and experiment. We found that the speed and accuracy of performance of rats on olfactory decision tasks could be best explained by a Bayesian model that combines reinforcement-based learning with accumulation of uncertain sensory evidence. This model predicted the specific pattern of trial history effects that were found in the data. The results suggest that learning is a critical factor contributing to speed-accuracy tradeoffs in decision-making and that task history effects are not simply biases but rather the signatures of an optimal learning strategy.

scholarly journals A Diffusion Model Approach for Understanding the Impact of 17 Interventions on the Race Implicit Association Test

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Röhner ◽  
Calvin K. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Implicit Measure ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Sham Intervention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

<p>Performance on implicit measures reflects construct-specific and non-construct-specific processes. This creates an interpretive issue for understanding interventions to change implicit measures: change in performance could reflect changes in the constructs-of-interest or changes in other mental processes. We re-analyzed data from six studies (<i>N</i> = 23,342) to examine the process-level effects of 17 interventions and one sham intervention to change race Implicit Association Test (IAT) performance. Diffusion models decompose overall IAT performance (<i>D</i>-scores) into construct-specific (ease of decision-making), and non-construct-specific processes (speed-accuracy tradeoffs, non-decision-related processes like motor execution). Interventions that effectively reduced <i>D-</i>scores changed ease of decision-making on compatible and incompatible trials. They also eliminated differences in speed-accuracy tradeoffs between compatible and incompatible trials. Non-decision-related processes were impacted by two interventions only. There was little evidence that interventions had any long-term effects. These findings highlight the value of diffusion modeling for understanding the mechanisms by which interventions affect implicit measure performance.</p>

scholarly journals A diffusion model approach for understanding the impact of 17 interventions on the race Implicit Association Test

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Röhner ◽  
Calvin K. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Implicit Measure ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Sham Intervention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

Performance on implicit measures reflects construct-specific and non-construct-specific processes. This creates an interpretive issue for understanding interventions to change implicit measures: change in performance could reflect changes in the constructs-of-interest or changes in other mental processes. We re-analyzed data from six studies (N = 23,342) to examine the process-level effects of 17 interventions and one sham intervention to change race Implicit Association Test (IAT) performance. Diffusion models decompose overall IAT performance (D-scores) into construct-specific (ease of decision-making), and non-construct-specific processes (speed-accuracy tradeoffs, non-decision-related processes like motor execution). Interventions that effectively reduced D-scores changed ease of decision-making on compatible and incompatible trials. They also eliminated differences in speed-accuracy tradeoffs between compatible and incompatible trials. Non-decision-related processes were impacted by two interventions only. There was little evidence that interventions had any long-term effects. These findings highlight the value of diffusion modeling for understanding the mechanisms by which interventions affect implicit measure performance.

scholarly journals The Impact of Cognitive and Physical Effort Exertion on Physical Effort Decisions: A Pilot Experiment

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven van As ◽  
Debby G. J. Beckers ◽  
Sabine A. E. Geurts ◽  
Michiel A. J. Kompier ◽  
Masud Husain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Handgrip Exercise ◽  
Cognitive Fatigue ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Physical Effort ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Back Task

Research suggests that cognitive fatigue has a negative impact on physical activity participation. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect are yet unclear. Using an effort-based decision-making paradigm, we examined whether individuals weigh physical effort-costs more strongly when they are cognitively or physically fatigued. Twenty university students visited the lab on three occasions. On each visit, participants underwent a manipulation that was designed to either induce cognitive fatigue (i.e., 2-back task), physical fatigue (i.e., handgrip exercise), or served as a control condition (i.e., documentary watching). After the manipulations, participants performed an effort-based decision-making task in which they decided for 125 offers whether they accepted the offer to exert the required level of physical effort to obtain rewards that varied in value. The probability to accept offers declined with increasing effort requirements whereas the general probability to accept offers was not reduced by any of the experimental conditions. As expected, the decline in accepted offers with increasing effort requirements was stronger after prolonged exertion of physical effort compared to the control condition. Unexpectedly, this effect was not found after exerting cognitive effort, and exploratory analyses revealed that the impact of physical effort exertion on physical effort-based decisions was stronger than that of cognitive effort exertion. These findings suggest that people weight future physical effort-costs more strongly after exerting physical effort, whereas we could not find any evidence for this after exerting cognitive effort. We discuss multiple explanations for this discrepancy, and outline possibilities for future research.

Quota Women Are Threatening to Men

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klea Faniko ◽  
Till Burckhardt ◽  
Oriane Sarrasin ◽  
Fabio Lorenzi-Cioldi ◽  
Siri Øyslebø Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Women In Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Two studies carried out among Albanian public-sector employees examined the impact of different types of affirmative action policies (AAPs) on (counter)stereotypical perceptions of women in decision-making positions. Study 1 (N = 178) revealed that participants – especially women – perceived women in decision-making positions as more masculine (i.e., agentic) than feminine (i.e., communal). Study 2 (N = 239) showed that different types of AA had different effects on the attribution of gender stereotypes to AAP beneficiaries: Women benefiting from a quota policy were perceived as being more communal than agentic, while those benefiting from weak preferential treatment were perceived as being more agentic than communal. Furthermore, we examined how the belief that AAPs threaten men’s access to decision-making positions influenced the attribution of these traits to AAP beneficiaries. The results showed that men who reported high levels of perceived threat, as compared to men who reported low levels of perceived threat, attributed more communal than agentic traits to the beneficiaries of quotas. These findings suggest that AAPs may have created a backlash against its beneficiaries by emphasizing gender-stereotypical or counterstereotypical traits. Thus, the framing of AAPs, for instance, as a matter of enhancing organizational performance, in the process of policy making and implementation, may be a crucial tool to countering potential backlash.

Blocking Is Sensitive to Causal Structure in 4-Year-Old and 8-Year-Old Children

2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 264-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Beckers ◽  
Uschi Van den Broeck ◽  
Marij Renne ◽  
Stefaan Vandorpe ◽  
Jan De Houwer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Causal Structure ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Contingency Learning

Abstract. In a contingency learning task, 4-year-old and 8-year-old children had to predict the outcome displayed on the back of a card on the basis of cues presented on the front. The task was embedded in either a causal or a merely predictive scenario. Within this task, either a forward blocking or a backward blocking procedure was implemented. Blocking occurred in the causal but not in the predictive scenario. Moreover, blocking was affected by the scenario to the same extent in both age groups. The pattern of results was similar for forward and backward blocking. These results suggest that even young children are sensitive to the causal structure of a contingency learning task and that the occurrence of blocking in such a task defies an explanation in terms of associative learning theory.

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