scholarly journals Get to grips with motivation: slipping and gripping movements are biased by approach-avoidance context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie Nilsson ◽  
David Meder ◽  
Kristoffer H Madsen ◽  
Ivan Toni ◽  
Hartwig Siebner

People are better at approaching appetitive cues signalling reward and avoiding aversive cues signalling punishment than vice versa. This action bias has previously been shown in approach-avoidance tasks involving arm movements in response to appetitive or aversive cues. It is not known whether appetitive or aversive stimuli also bias more distal dexterous actions, such as gripping and slipping, in a similar manner. To test this hypothesis, we designed a novel task involving grip force control (gripping and slipping) to probe gripping-related approach and avoidance behaviour. 32 male volunteers, aged 18-40 years, were instructed to either grip (“approach”) or slip (”avoid”) a grip-force device with their right thumb and index finger at the sight of positive or negative images. In one version of this pincer grip task, participants were responding to graspable objects and in another version of the task they were responding to happy or angry faces. Bayesian repeated measures Analysis of variance revealed extreme evidence for an interaction between response type and cue valence (Bayes factor = 296). Participants were faster to respond in affect-congruent conditions (“approach appetitive”, “avoid aversive”) than in affect-incongruent conditions (“approach aversive”, “avoid appetitive”). This bias towards faster response times for affect-congruent conditions was present regardless of whether it was a graspable object or a face signalling valence. Since our results mirror the approach and avoidance effects previously observed for arm movements, we conclude that a tendency favouring affectively congruent cue-response mappings is an inherent feature of motor control and thus also includes precision grip.

Author(s):  
Pieter Van Dessel ◽  
Jan De Houwer ◽  
Anne Gast ◽  
Colin Tucker Smith

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.


2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 2984-2997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Jenmalm ◽  
Seth Dahlstedt ◽  
Roland S. Johansson

Most objects that we manipulate have curved surfaces. We have analyzed how subjects during a prototypical manipulatory task use visual and tactile sensory information for adapting fingertip actions to changes in object curvature. Subjects grasped an elongated object at one end using a precision grip and lifted it while instructed to keep it level. The principal load of the grasp was tangential torque due to the location of the center of mass of the object in relation to the horizontal grip axis joining the centers of the opposing grasp surfaces. The curvature strongly influenced the grip forces required to prevent rotational slips. Likewise the curvature influenced the rotational yield of the grasp that developed under the tangential torque load due to the viscoelastic properties of the fingertip pulps. Subjects scaled the grip forces parametrically with object curvature for grasp stability. Moreover in a curvature-dependent manner, subjects twisted the grasp around the grip axis by a radial flexion of the wrist to keep the desired object orientation despite the rotational yield. To adapt these fingertip actions to object curvature, subjects could use both vision and tactile sensibility integrated with predictive control. During combined blindfolding and digital anesthesia, however, the motor output failed to predict the consequences of the prevailing curvature. Subjects used vision to identify the curvature for efficient feedforward retrieval of grip force requirements before executing the motor commands. Digital anesthesia caused little impairment of grip force control when subjects had vision available, but the adaptation of the twist became delayed. Visual cues about the form of the grasp surface obtained before contact was used to scale the grip force, whereas the scaling of the twist depended on visual cues related to object movement. Thus subjects apparently relied on different visuomotor mechanisms for adaptation of grip force and grasp kinematics. In contrast, blindfolded subjects used tactile cues about the prevailing curvature obtained after contact with the object for feedforward adaptation of both grip force and twist. We conclude that humans use both vision and tactile sensibility for feedforward parametric adaptation of grip forces and grasp kinematics to object curvature. Normal control of the twist action, however, requires digital afferent input, and different visuomotor mechanisms support the control of the grasp twist and the grip force. This differential use of vision may have a bearing to the two-stream model of human visual processing.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Werremeyer ◽  
Kelly J. Cole

Werremeyer, Mary M. and Kelly J. Cole. Wrist action affects precision grip force. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 271–280, 1997. When moving objects with a precision grip, fingertip forces normal to the object surface (grip force) change in parallel with forces tangential to the object (load force). We investigated whether voluntary wrist actions can affect grip force independent of load force, because the extrinsic finger muscles cross the wrist. Grip force increased with wrist angular speed during wrist motion in the horizontal plane, and was much larger than the increased tangential load at the fingertips or the reaction forces from linear acceleration of the test object. During wrist flexion the index finger muscles in the hand and forearm increased myoelectric activity; during wrist extension this myoelectric activity increased little, or decreased for some subjects. The grip force maxima coincided with wrist acceleration maxima, and grip force remained elevated when subjects held the wrist in extreme flexion or extension. Likewise, during isometric wrist actions the grip force increased even though the fingertip loads remained constant. A grip force “pulse” developed that increased with wrist force rate, followed by a static grip force while the wrist force was sustained. Subjects could not suppress the grip force pulse when provided visual feedback of their grip force. We conclude that the extrinsic hand muscles can be recruited to assist the intended wrist action, yielding higher grip-load ratios than those employed with the wrist at rest. This added drive to hand muscles overcame any loss in muscle force while the extrinsic finger flexors shortened during wrist flexion motion. During wrist extension motion grip force increases apparently occurred from eccentric contraction of the extrinsic finger flexors. The coactivation of hand closing muscles with other wrist muscles also may result in part from a general motor facilitation, because grip force increased during isometric knee extension. However, these increases were related weakly to the knee force. The observed muscle coactivation, from all sources, may contribute to grasp stability. For example, when transporting grasped objects, upper limb accelerations simultaneously produce inertial torques at the wrist that must be resisted, and inertial loads at the fingertips from the object that must be offset by increased grip force. The muscle coactivation described here would cause similarly timed pulses in the wrist force and grip force. However, grip-load coupling from this mechanism would not contribute much to grasp stability when small wrist forces are required, such as for slow movements or when the object's total resistive load is small.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1425-1435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany L Berzins ◽  
Judith Gere ◽  
Scout M Kelly ◽  
John A Updegraff

This study investigated whether positive and negative romantic partner social control attempts (persuasion and pressure, respectively) were related to approach-avoidance motives and exercise among young adults ( N = 98), using daily reports. Daily persuasion was linked to higher daily approach motives. At the person level, persuasion was associated with higher approach and avoidance motives in addition to more frequent, longer exercise. Pressure was associated with higher daily relationship stress, which was associated with higher daily avoidance motives. At the person level, pressure was related to less frequent, shorter exercise. Thus, romantic partners’ social control use correlates with exercise motives and behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Faulkenberry

In this paper, I develop a formula for estimating Bayes factors directly from minimal summary statistics produced in repeated measures analysis of variance designs. The formula, which requires knowing only the F-statistic, the number of subjects, and the number of repeated measurements per subject, is based on the BIC approximation of the Bayes factor, a common default method for Bayesian computation with linear models. In addition to providing computational examples, I report a simulation study in which I demonstrate that the formula compares favorably to a recently developed, more complex method that accounts for correlation between repeated measurements. The minimal BIC method provides a simple way for researchers to estimate Bayes factors from a minimal set of summary statistics, giving users a powerful index for estimating the evidential value of not only their own data, but also the data reported in published studies.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Garcia-Guerrero ◽  
Denis O'Hora ◽  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
Stefan Scherbaum

Approach-avoidance conflict is observed in the competing motivations towards the benefits and away from the costs of a decision. The current study employs the action dynamics of response motion, via mouse-tracking, in an attempt to characterize the continuous dynamic resolution of such conflicts. Approach-avoidance conflict (AAC) was generated by varying the appetitive consequences of a decision (i.e., point rewards and shorter participation time) in the presence of a simultaneous aversive consequence (i.e., shock probability). In two experiments, we found that AAC differentially affected response trajectories. Overall, approach trajectories were less complex than avoidance trajectories. As approach and avoidance motivations neared equipotentiality, response trajectories were more deflected from the shortest route to the eventual choice. Consistency in the location of approach and avoidance response options reduced variability in performance enabling more sensitive estimates of dynamic conflict. The time course of competing influences on response trajectories including trial-to-trial effects and conflict between approach and avoidance were estimated using regression analyses. We discuss these findings in terms of a dynamic theory of approach-avoidance that we hope will lead to insights of practical relevance in the field of maladaptive avoidance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 747-772
Author(s):  
Allison M. Sklenar ◽  
Matthew P. McCurdy ◽  
Andrea N. Frankenstein ◽  
Matt Motyl ◽  
Eric D. Leshikar

People display approach and avoidance tendencies toward social targets. Although much research has studied the factors that affect decisions to approach or avoid targets, less work has investigated whether cognitive factors, such as episodic memory (e.g., details remembered about others from previous encounters) contribute to such judgments. Across two experiments, participants formed positive or negative impressions of targets based on their picture, a trait-implying behavior (Experiments 1 & 2), and their political ideology (conservative or liberal; Experiment 2). Memory and approach/avoidance decisions for targets were then measured. Results showed remembering negative impressions about targets increased avoidance responses, whereas remembering positive impressions increased approach responses. Strikingly, falsely remembering negative impressions for novel social targets (not seen before) also induced avoidance. Results suggest remembering negative information about targets, whether correctly or falsely, strongly influences future social judgments. Overall, these data support an episodic memory mechanism underlying subsequent approach/avoidance judgments, which is a rich area for future research.


2000 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 1366-1375 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Fagergren ◽  
O. Ekeberg ◽  
H. Forssberg

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 781-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Weidacker ◽  
C. Kärgel ◽  
C. Massau ◽  
S. Weiß ◽  
J. Kneer ◽  
...  

The presence of pedophilic sexual interests is considered of high importance for predicting recidivism among individuals who have committed sexual offenses. However, objective and valid assessment methods that are robust against confounding issues such as cognitive capacity and manipulation are sparse. We applied the Approach–Avoidance Task (AAT) for detecting sexual interests in 38 pedophilic men (18 primarily attracted to boys) and 27 male nonpedophilic (11 gay) participants. The AAT relies on automatic approach and avoidance tendencies, independent of cognitive abilities such as memory capacity and intelligence. Approach–avoidance tendencies toward stimuli depicting seminude prepubescent boys and girls as well as men and women are reported. The results were consistent with previous research on the utility of the AAT: Except for pedophiles attracted to girls, the mean AAT scores (approach minus avoidance reaction time for each stimulus category) were positive only for stimuli of the preferred category. A multivariate binary logistic regression approach revealed 80% overall accuracy in differentiating pedophilic from nonpedophilic participants.


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