1
|
Bains A, Barber A, Nell T, Ripollés P, Krishnan S. The role of intrinsic reward in adolescent word learning. Dev Sci 2024:e13513. [PMID: 38685611 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Relatively little work has focused on why we are motivated to learn words. In adults, recent experiments have shown that intrinsic reward signals accompany successful word learning from context. In addition, the experience of reward facilitated long-term memory for words. In adolescence, developmental changes are seen in reward and motivation systems as well as in reading and language systems. Here, in the face of this developmental change, we ask whether adolescents experience reward from word learning, and how the reward and memory benefit seen in adults is modulated by age. We used a naturalistic reading paradigm, which involved extracting novel word meanings from sentence context without the need for explicit feedback. By exploring ratings of enjoyment during the learning phase, as well as recognition memory for words a day later, we assessed whether adolescents show the same reward and learning patterns as adults. We tested 345 children between the ages of 10-18 (N > 84 in each 2-year age-band) using this paradigm. We found evidence for our first prediction: children aged 10-18 report greater enjoyment for successful word learning. However, we did not find evidence for age-related change in this developmental period, or memory benefits. This work gives us greater insight into the process of language acquisition and sets the stage for further investigations of intrinsic reward in typical and atypical development. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We constantly learn words from context, even in the absence of explicit rewards or feedback. In adults, intrinsic reward experienced during word learning is linked to a dopaminergic circuit in the brain, which also fuels enhancements in memory for words. We find adolescents also report enhanced reward or enjoyment when they successfully learn words from sentence context. The relationship between reward and learning is maintained between the ages of 10 and 18. Unlike in adults, we did not observe ensuing memory benefits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amrita Bains
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, UK
| | - Annaliese Barber
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, UK
| | - Tau Nell
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, UK
| | - Pablo Ripollés
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
- Music and Audio Research Lab (MARL), New York University, New York, New York, USA
- Center for Language, Music and Emotion (CLaME), New York University, Max-Planck Institute, New York, New York, USA
| | - Saloni Krishnan
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Huizenga HM, Zadelaar J, Jansen BRJ. Quantitative or qualitative development in decision making? J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 210:105198. [PMID: 34098166 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A key question in the developmental sciences is whether developmental differences are quantitative or qualitative. For example, does age increase the speed in processing a task (quantitative differences) or does age affect the way a task is processed (qualitative differences)? Until now, findings in the domain of decision making have been based on the assumption that developmental differences are either quantitative or qualitative. In the current study, we took a different approach in which we tested whether development is best described as being quantitative or qualitative. We administered a judgment version and a choice version of a decision-making task to a developmental sample (njudgment = 109 and nchoice = 137; Mage = 12.5 years, age range = 9-18). The task, the so-called Gambling Machine Task, required decisions between two options characterized by constant gains and probabilistic losses; these characteristics were known beforehand and thus did not need to be learned from experience. Data were analyzed by comparing the fit of quantitative and qualitative latent variable models, so-called multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) models. Results indicated that individual differences in both judgment and choice tasks were quantitative and pertained to individual differences in "consideration of gains," that is, to what extent decisions were guided by gains. These differences were affected by age in the judgment version, but not in the choice version, of the task. We discuss implications for theories of decision making and discuss potential limitations and extensions. We also argue that the MIMIC approach is useful in other domains, for example, to test quantitative versus qualitative development of categorization, reasoning, math, and memory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hilde M Huizenga
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Jacqueline Zadelaar
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Brenda R J Jansen
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Knoll LJ, Gaule A, Lazari A, Jacobs EAK, Blakemore SJ. Neural correlates of social influence on risk perception during development. Soc Neurosci 2020; 15:355-367. [PMID: 32091958 PMCID: PMC7446033 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2020.1726450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Studies have shown that adolescents are more likely than adults to take risks in the presence of peers than when alone, and that young adolescents' risk perception is more influenced by other teenagers than by adults. The current fMRI study investigated the effect of social influence on risk perception in female adolescents (aged 12-14) and adults (aged 23-29). Participants rated the riskiness of everyday situations and were then informed about the (alleged) risk ratings of a social influence group (teenagers or adults), before rating each situation again. The results showed that adolescents adjusted their ratings to conform with others more than adults did, and both age groups were influenced more by adults than by teenagers. When there was a conflict between the participants' own risk ratings and the ratings of the social influence group, activation was increased in the posterior medial frontal cortex, dorsal cingulate cortex and inferior frontal gyrus in both age groups. In addition, there was greater activation during no-conflict situations in the right middle frontal gyrus and bilateral parietal cortex in adults compared with adolescents. These results suggest that there are behavioral and neural differences between adolescents and adults in conflict and no-conflict social situations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- L J Knoll
- University College London , London, WC, UK
| | - A Gaule
- University College London , London, WC, UK
| | - A Lazari
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford , UK
| | | | - S J Blakemore
- University College London , London, WC, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge , UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Walasek L, Stewart N. Context-dependent sensitivity to losses: Range and skew manipulations. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2018; 45:957-968. [PMID: 30359053 PMCID: PMC6512948 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The assumption that losses loom larger than gains is widely used to explain many behavioral phenomena in judgment and decision-making. It is also generally accepted that loss aversion is a stable, traitlike individual difference characterizing people’s sensitivity to gains and losses. This interpretation was recently challenged by Walasek and Stewart (2015), who showed that by manipulating the range of the gains and losses used in the accept−reject task it is possible to find loss aversion, loss neutrality, and a reversal of loss aversion. Here, we reexamined the claim that these context effects arise as a result of people being sensitive to the rank position of a given gain among other gains and the rank position of a loss among other losses. We used skewed distributions of outcomes to manipulate the rank position of gains and losses while keeping the range of possible outcomes constant. We found a small but robust effect of skew on the propensity to accept mixed gambles. We compared the sizes of skew and range effects and found that they are of similar magnitude but that the range effects are smaller than those reported by Walasek and Stewart. We were able to attenuate loss aversion, but we were not able to replicate Walasek and Stewart’s reversal of loss aversion. We conclude that rank effects are, at least in part, responsible for the loss aversion seen in the accept−reject task.
Collapse
|
5
|
Portero-Tresserra M, Gracia-Rubio I, Cantacorps L, Pozo OJ, Gómez-Gómez A, Pastor A, López-Arnau R, de la Torre R, Valverde O. Maternal separation increases alcohol-drinking behaviour and reduces endocannabinoid levels in the mouse striatum and prefrontal cortex. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2018; 28:499-512. [PMID: 29478745 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2018.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Revised: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Childhood adversity is associated with an increased risk of mood, anxiety and substance use disorders. Maternal separation is a reliable rodent model of early life adversity that leads to depression-like symptoms, which may increase the vulnerability to alcohol consumption during adolescence. However, the specific alterations in the pattern of alcohol consumption induced by maternal separation and the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term effects of maternal separation with early weaning (MSEW) on emotional and social behaviour, alcohol rewarding properties, and alcohol consumption, abstinence and relapse in adolescent male C57BL/6 mice. In addition, endocannabinoid and monoamine levels were analysed in discrete brain areas. Results showed that MSEW mice presented emotional alterations related to depressive-like behaviour and modified endocannabinoid levels in the striatum and the prefrontal cortex. MSEW mice also showed impairments in alcohol-induced conditioned place preference and higher alcohol intake in a model of binge drinking. Moreover, MSEW animals displayed a higher propensity to relapse in the two-bottle choice paradigm following a period of alcohol abstinence associated with reduced monoamine levels in the striatum. Such results indicate that exposure to early life stress increased the vulnerability to alcohol binge-drinking during adolescence, which may be partially explained by decreased sensitivity to alcohol rewarding properties and the ability to potentiate alcohol intake following a period of abstinence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marta Portero-Tresserra
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Irene Gracia-Rubio
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lídia Cantacorps
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Oscar J Pozo
- IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Research Group, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alejandro Gómez-Gómez
- IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Research Group, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antoni Pastor
- IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Research Group, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Raúl López-Arnau
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rafael de la Torre
- IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Research Group, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Olga Valverde
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Neuroscience Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Vlaev I, Wallace B, Wright N, Nicolle A, Dolan P, Dolan R. Other People's Money: The Role of Reciprocity and Social Uncertainty in Decisions for Others. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 10:59-80. [PMID: 29456782 PMCID: PMC5812171 DOI: 10.1037/npe0000063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Many important decisions are taken not by the person who will ultimately gain or lose from the outcome, but on their behalf, by somebody else. We examined economic decision-making about risk and time in situations in which deciders chose for others who also chose for them. We propose that this unique setting, which has not been studied before, elicits perception of reciprocity that prompts a unique bias in preferences. We found that decision-makers are less patient (more discounting), and more risk averse for losses than gains, with other peoples’ money, especially when their choices for others are more uncertain. Those results were derived by exploiting a computational modeling framework that has been shown to account for the underlying psychological and neural decision processes. We propose a novel theoretical mechanism—precautionary preferences under social uncertainty, which explains the findings. Implications for future research and alternative models are also discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ivo Vlaev
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
| | | | - Nicholas Wright
- Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security, University of Birmingham
| | | | - Paul Dolan
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics
| | - Raymond Dolan
- Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing and Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Blankenstein NE, Crone EA, van den Bos W, van Duijvenvoorde ACK. Dealing With Uncertainty: Testing Risk- and Ambiguity-Attitude Across Adolescence. Dev Neuropsychol 2016; 41:77-92. [PMID: 27028162 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2016.1158265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Attitudes to risk (known probabilities) and attitudes to ambiguity (unknown probabilities) are separate constructs that influence decision making, but their development across adolescence remains elusive. We administered a choice task to a wide adolescent age-range (N = 157, 10-25 years) to disentangle risk- and ambiguity-attitudes using a model-based approach. Additionally, this task was played in a social context, presenting choices from a high risk-taking peer. We observed age-related changes in ambiguity-attitude, but not risk-attitude. Also, ambiguity-aversion was negatively related to real-life risk taking. Finally, the social context influenced only risk-attitudes. These results highlight the importance of disentangling risk- and ambiguity-attitudes in adolescent risk taking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Neeltje E Blankenstein
- a Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology , Institute of Psychology, Leiden University , Leiden , the Netherlands
| | - Eveline A Crone
- a Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology , Institute of Psychology, Leiden University , Leiden , the Netherlands
| | - Wouter van den Bos
- b Center for Adaptive Rationality , Max Planck Institute for Human Development , Berlin , Germany
| | - Anna C K van Duijvenvoorde
- a Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology , Institute of Psychology, Leiden University , Leiden , the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kayser AS, Op de Macks Z, Dahl RE, Frank MJ. A Neural Correlate of Strategic Exploration at the Onset of Adolescence. J Cogn Neurosci 2015; 28:199-209. [PMID: 26488590 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The onset of adolescence is associated with an increase in the behavioral tendency to explore and seek novel experiences. However, this exploration has rarely been quantified, and its neural correlates during this period remain unclear. Previously, activity within specific regions of the rostrolateral PFC (rlPFC) in adults has been shown to correlate with the tendency for exploration. Here we investigate a recently developed task to assess individual differences in strategic exploration, defined as the degree to which the relative uncertainty of rewards directs responding toward less well-evaluated choices, in 62 girls aged 11-13 years from whom resting state fMRI data were obtained in a separate session. Behaviorally, this task divided our participants into groups of explorers (n = 41) and nonexplorers (n = 21). When seed ROIs within the rlPFC were used to interrogate resting state fMRI data, we identified a lateralized connection between the rlPFC and posterior putamen/insula whose strength differentiated explorers from nonexplorers. On the basis of Granger causality analyses, the preponderant direction of influence may proceed from posterior to anterior. Together, these data provide initial evidence concerning the neural basis of exploratory tendencies at the onset of adolescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S Kayser
- University of California, San Francisco.,VA Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, CA
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Brizio A, Gabbatore I, Tirassa M, Bosco FM. "No more a child, not yet an adult": studying social cognition in adolescence. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1011. [PMID: 26347664 PMCID: PMC4543799 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2015] [Accepted: 08/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
There are several reasons why adolescence is interesting. It is in this phase that an individual finds herself fully facing the external world: basically equipped with the kind of social cognition that s/he has acquired at home, at school and through the media during childhood, s/he has now to meet a host of other, diverse views of what "reasonable," "appropriate," or "expected" courses of thought and emotions are, in the wild with friends and peers, romantic or sexual partners, teachers and employers, and the society at large. Furthermore, she is also expected, both at home and in the external world, to have a wholly new degree of control over such courses. While the idea that the development of social cognition still progresses after infancy (and possibly throughout the life span) is clearly gaining consensus in the field, the literature building on it is still scarce. One of the reasons for this probably is that most tests used to study it focus on its basic component, namely theory of mind, and have been mostly devised for us with children; therefore, they are not suitable to deal with the hugely increasing complexity of social and mental life during adolescence and adulthood. Starting from a review of the literature available, we will argue that the development of social cognition should be viewed as a largely yet-to-be-understood mix of biological and cultural factors. While it is widely agreed upon that the very initial manifestations of social life in the newborn are largely driven by an innate engine with which all humans are equally endowed, it is also evident that each culture, and each individual within it, develops specific adult versions of social cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adelina Brizio
- Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, University of Turin , Turin, Italy ; Faculty of Communication Science, Università della Svizzera Italiana , Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Ilaria Gabbatore
- Faculty of Humanities, Child Language Research Center, University of Oulu , Oulu, Finland
| | - Maurizio Tirassa
- Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, University of Turin , Turin, Italy ; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute of Turin , Turin, Italy
| | - Francesca M Bosco
- Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, University of Turin , Turin, Italy ; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute of Turin , Turin, Italy
| |
Collapse
|