Recent years have seen a considerable surge of research on interest-based engagement, examining how and why people are engaged in activities without relying on extrinsic rewards. However, the field ...of inquiry has been somewhat segregated into three different research traditions which have been developed relatively independently-research on curiosity, interest, and trait curiosity/interest. We identify "long-term development" as a critical factor that links different research traditions, and set out an integrative perspective called the reward-learning framework of knowledge acquisition. This framework takes on the basic premise of existing reward-learning models of information seeking: that knowledge acquisition serves as an inherent reward, which reinforces people's information-seeking behavior through a reward-learning process. Critically, however, the framework reveals how the knowledge-acquisition process is sustained and boosted over a long period of time in real-life settings (i.e., self-boosting effect), allowing us to integrate the different research traditions within reward-learning models. The framework also characterizes the knowledge-acquisition process with three distinct features that are not present in the reward-learning process with extrinsic rewards-(a) selectivity, (b) vulnerability, and (c) under-appreciation. Finally, we discuss implications of the proposed framework regarding the debate over the conceptualization of broad concepts, namely; curiosity, interest, and intrinsic-extrinsic rewards.
Although hypothetical rewards have been used almost exclusively in human discounting studies, investigations of their validity are limited. The present experiment compared the discounting of monetary ...reward value by probability across conditions in which the rewards were real, potentially real, and hypothetical. Twenty-four undergraduates choose between an uncertain large reward and a certain small reward 60 times (trials). In the real and hypothetical reward conditions, the participants made choices with real and hypothetical money, respectively, in every trial. In the potentially real condition, they did so with real money in randomly selected three of the 60 trials and with hypothetical money in the remainder. The log
-transformed h values of a hyperbolic probability-discount function and the values of the area under the curve with an ordinal transformation of odds against were higher and lower, respectively, in the potentially real and in the hypothetical reward conditions than in the real reward condition, demonstrating that the probability discounting of hypothetical monetary rewards was larger than that of real rewards. These results suggest that future studies are required to identify why the hypothetical reward procedure overestimates the discounting rates of real rewards.
The human brain contains approximately 60 billion cerebellar granule cells, which outnumber all other brain neurons combined. Classical theories posit that a large, diverse population of granule ...cells allows for highly detailed representations of sensorimotor context, enabling downstream Purkinje cells to sense fine contextual changes. Although evidence suggests a role for the cerebellum in cognition, granule cells are known to encode only sensory and motor context. Here, using two-photon calcium imaging in behaving mice, we show that granule cells convey information about the expectation of reward. Mice initiated voluntary forelimb movements for delayed sugar-water reward. Some granule cells responded preferentially to reward or reward omission, whereas others selectively encoded reward anticipation. Reward responses were not restricted to forelimb movement, as a Pavlovian task evoked similar responses. Compared to predictable rewards, unexpected rewards elicited markedly different granule cell activity despite identical stimuli and licking responses. In both tasks, reward signals were widespread throughout multiple cerebellar lobules. Tracking the same granule cells over several days of learning revealed that cells with reward-anticipating responses emerged from those that responded at the start of learning to reward delivery, whereas reward-omission responses grew stronger as learning progressed. The discovery of predictive, non-sensorimotor encoding in granule cells is a major departure from the current understanding of these neurons and markedly enriches the contextual information available to postsynaptic Purkinje cells, with important implications for cognitive processing in the cerebellum.
The prefrontal cortex is a critical neuroanatomical hub for controlling motivated behaviours across mammalian species. In addition to intra-cortical connectivity, prefrontal projection neurons ...innervate subcortical structures that contribute to reward-seeking behaviours, such as the ventral striatum and midline thalamus. While connectivity among these structures contributes to appetitive behaviours, how projection-specific prefrontal neurons encode reward-relevant information to guide reward seeking is unknown. Here we use in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to monitor the activity of dorsomedial prefrontal neurons in mice during an appetitive Pavlovian conditioning task. At the population level, these neurons display diverse activity patterns during the presentation of reward-predictive cues. However, recordings from prefrontal neurons with resolved projection targets reveal that individual corticostriatal neurons show response tuning to reward-predictive cues, such that excitatory cue responses are amplified across learning. By contrast, corticothalamic neurons gradually develop new, primarily inhibitory responses to reward-predictive cues across learning. Furthermore, bidirectional optogenetic manipulation of these neurons reveals that stimulation of corticostriatal neurons promotes conditioned reward-seeking behaviour after learning, while activity in corticothalamic neurons suppresses both the acquisition and expression of conditioned reward seeking. These data show how prefrontal circuitry can dynamically control reward-seeking behaviour through the opposing activities of projection-specific cell populations.
Arbitrary Fairness in Reward and Punishments Evers, Ellen R. K.; O'Donnell, Michael; Inbar, Yoel
Journal of experimental psychology. General,
04/2023, Letnik:
152, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
People have a strong preference for fairness. For many, fairness means equal reward and punishments for equal efforts and offences. However, this belief does not specify the units in which equality ...should be expressed. We show that people generally fail to take the interchangeability of units into account when judging and assigning fair punishments and reward. Therefore, judgments about and distributions of resources are strongly influenced by arbitrary decisions about which unit to express them in. For example, if points represent different monetary values for different recipients, people attempt to distribute money equally if money is salient but attempt to distribute points equally if points are salient. Because beliefs about fairness are a fundamental principle in many domains, the implications of these findings are broad. Essentially any distribution of outcomes can be made to appear more or less fair by changing the units these outcomes are expressed in.
Our prior experiences shape the way that we prioritize information from the environment for further processing, analysis, and action. We show in three experiments that this process of attentional ...prioritization is critically modulated by the degree of uncertainty in these previous experiences. Participants completed a visual search task in which they made a saccade to a target to earn a monetary reward. The color of a color-singleton distractor in the search array signaled the reward outcome(s) that were available, with different degrees of variance (uncertainty). Participants were never required to look at the colored distractor, and doing so would slow their response to the target. Nevertheless, across all experiments, participants were more likely to look at distractors associated with high outcome variance versus low outcome variance. This pattern was observed when all distractors had equal expected value (Experiment 1), when the difference in variance was opposed by a difference in expected value (i.e., the high-variance distractor had a low expected value, and vice versa: Experiment 2), and when high- and low-variance distractors were paired with the maximum-value outcome on an equal proportion of trials (Experiment 3). Our findings demonstrate that experience of prediction error plays a fundamental role in guiding "attentional exploration," wherein priority is driven by the potential for a stimulus to reduce future uncertainty through a process of learning, as opposed to maximizing current information gain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
The value of an anticipated rewarding event is a crucial component of the decision to engage in its pursuit. But little is known of the networks responsible for encoding and retrieving this value. By ...using biosensors and pharmacological manipulations, we found that basolateral amygdala (BLA) glutamatergic activity tracks and mediates encoding and retrieval of the state-dependent incentive value of a palatable food reward. Projection-specific, bidirectional chemogenetic and optogenetic manipulations revealed that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) supports the BLA in these processes. Critically, the function of ventrolateral and medial OFC→BLA projections is doubly dissociable. Whereas lateral OFC→BLA projections are necessary and sufficient for encoding of the positive value of a reward, medial OFC→BLA projections are necessary and sufficient for retrieving this value from memory. These data reveal a new circuit for adaptive reward valuation and pursuit and provide insight into the dysfunction in these processes that characterizes myriad psychiatric diseases.
The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the functional form of discounting of monetary rewards by physical effort in potentially real and hypothetical contexts. Individuals (N = 142) ...completed the assessments with hypothetical and potentially real effort discounting tasks, and their hypothetical or potentially real consequences. The data obtained from the experiment reported here suggest that hypothetical conditions yield patterns of discounting that mirror those for potentially real effort tasks and outcomes. However, this finding also leaves open the possibility that the degree of discounting may change together with the repeated exposure to the consequences of decisions, or the counterbalanced order of hypothetical and potentially real tasks.
•Researchers using hypothetical rewards have questioned the validity of the procedure.•Potentially real effort tasks are compared to hypothetical effort tasks.•Hypothetical conditions yield patterns that mirror those for potentially real tasks.•Counterbalanced order of hypothetical and potentially real tasks should be considered.
Attention provides the gateway to cognition, by selecting certain stimuli for further analysis. Recent research demonstrates that whether a stimulus captures attention is not determined solely by its ...physical properties, but is malleable, being influenced by our previous experience of rewards obtained by attending to that stimulus. Here we show that this influence of reward learning on attention extends to task-irrelevant stimuli. In a visual search task, certain stimuli signaled the magnitude of available reward, but reward delivery was not contingent on responding to those stimuli. Indeed, any attentional capture by these critical distractor stimuli led to a reduction in the reward obtained. Nevertheless, distractors signaling large reward produced greater attentional and oculomotor capture than those signaling small reward. This counterproductive capture by task-irrelevant stimuli is important because it demonstrates how external reward structures can produce patterns of behavior that conflict with task demands, and similar processes may underlie problematic behavior directed toward real-world rewards.
Aims and objectives
To identify meaningful types of rewards and the consequences of rewards as expressed by Finnish registered nurses working in primary and private healthcare.
Background
Previous ...studies have found significant associations between nurses’ rewards and both their commitment and job satisfaction. Furthermore, appropriate rewards can have beneficial effects on factors including workforce stability and occupational satisfaction that are highly important in times of nurse shortages.
Design
A cross‐sectional, qualitative interview study.
Methods
Data were collected via individual semi‐structured interviews (n = 20) with registered nurses working in Finland's primary and private healthcare, and subjected to qualitative content analysis.
Results
Six meaningful types of rewards were identified by the registered nurses: Financial compensation and benefits, Work‐Life balance, Work content, Professional development, Recognition, and Supportive leadership. Rewards encouraged respondents to perform their work correctly and reinforced occupational satisfaction, but also caused feelings of envy and stress.
Conclusions
It is essential to pay attention to nurses’ preferences for particular rewards and to reward management. When designing effective reward systems for registered nurses, it is not sufficient to provide financial rewards alone, as various kinds of non‐financial rewards are both meaningful and necessary.
Relevance to clinical practice
When trying to improve registered nurses’ commitment and job satisfaction through reward management, it is important to listen to nurses’ opinions to create a reward system that integrates financial and non‐financial rewards and is fair from their perspective. Healthcare organisations that offer registered nurses a holistic reward system are more likely to retain satisfied and committed nurses at a time of increasing nursing shortages.
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