Don’t think, just feel the music: Individuals with strong pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer effects rely less on model-based reinforcement learning

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Miriam Sebold - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin (Author)
  • Daniel J. Schad - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Potsdam (Author)
  • Stephan Nebe - , Faculty of Psychology (Author)
  • Maria Garbusow - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin (Author)
  • Elisabeth Jünger - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Nils B. Kroemer - , TUD Dresden University of Technology, Yale University, John B. Pierce Foundation Laboratory (Author)
  • Norbert Kathmann - , Humboldt University of Berlin (Author)
  • Ulrich S. Zimmermann - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Michael A. Rapp - , University of Potsdam (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Quentin J.M. Huys - , ETH Zurich, University of Zurich (Author)

Abstract

Behavioral choice can be characterized along two axes. One axis distinguishes reflexive, model-free systems that slowly accumulate values through experience and a model-based system that uses knowledge to reason prospectively. The second axis distinguishes Pavlovian valuation of stimuli from instrumental valuation of actions or stimulus-action pairs. This results in four values and many possible interactions between them, with important consequences for accounts of individual variation. We here explored whether individual variation along one axis was related to individual variation along the other. Specifically, we asked whether individual’s balance between model-based and model-free learning was related to their tendency to show Pavlovian interferences with instrumental decisions. In two independent samples with a total of 243 participants, Pavlovian- instrumental transfer effects were negatively correlated with the strength of model-based reasoning in a two-step task.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)985-995
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of cognitive neuroscience
Volume10
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2012
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 26942321
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/161890793

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas