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Rossi-Goldthorpe R, Silverstein SM, Gold JM, Schiffman J, Waltz JA, Williams TF, Powers AR, Woods SW, Zinbarg RE, Mittal VA, Ellman LM, Strauss GP, Walker EF, Levin JA, Castiello S, Kenney J, Corlett PR. Different learning aberrations relate to delusion-like beliefs with different contents. Brain 2024; 147:2854-2866. [PMID: 38637303 PMCID: PMC11292907 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awae122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The prediction error account of delusions has had success. However, its explanation of delusions with different contents has been lacking. Persecutory delusions and paranoia are the common unfounded beliefs that others have harmful intentions towards us. Other delusions include believing that one's thoughts or actions are under external control or that events in the world have specific personal meaning. We compare learning in two different cognitive tasks, probabilistic reversal learning and Kamin blocking, that have relationships to paranoid and non-paranoid delusion-like beliefs, respectively. We find that clinical high-risk status alone does not result in different behavioural results in the probabilistic reversal learning task but that an individual's level of paranoia is associated with excessive switching behaviour. During the Kamin blocking task, paranoid individuals learned inappropriately about the blocked cue. However, they also had decreased learning about the control cue, suggesting more general learning impairments. Non-paranoid delusion-like belief conviction (but not paranoia) was associated with aberrant learning about the blocked cue but intact learning about the control cue, suggesting specific impairments in learning related to cue combination. We fit task-specific computational models separately to behavioural data to explore how latent parameters vary within individuals between tasks and how they can explain symptom-specific effects. We find that paranoia is associated with low learning rates in the probabilistic reversal learning task and the blocking task. Non-paranoid delusion-like belief conviction is instead related to parameters controlling the degree and direction of similarity between cue updating during simultaneous cue presentation. These results suggest that paranoia and other delusion-like beliefs involve dissociable deficits in learning and belief updating, which, given the transdiagnostic status of paranoia, might have differential utility in predicting psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Rossi-Goldthorpe
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Steven M Silverstein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Department of Opthalmology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
| | - James M Gold
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA
| | - Jason Schiffman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - James A Waltz
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA
| | - Trevor F Williams
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA
| | - Albert R Powers
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Scott W Woods
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Richard E Zinbarg
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA
| | - Vijay A Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA
| | - Lauren M Ellman
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Gregory P Strauss
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Elaine F Walker
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Jason A Levin
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Santiago Castiello
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Joshua Kenney
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Philip R Corlett
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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Quigley M, Bradley A, Haselgrove M. Schizotypy dimensions do not predict overshadowing. Behav Brain Res 2023; 453:114631. [PMID: 37591412 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
When two cues are presented together and reliably predict an outcome (AB-O1) an "overshadowing" effect is typically observed. That is, the relationship between these cues and the outcome is learned about less well than a cue presented on its own with an outcome (e.g., C - O1). The current study sought to explore the relationship between overshadowing and the positive and negative dimensions of schizotypy. A total of 256 participants completed an overshadowing procedure embedded within a causal judgement task and the Short Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE) which measured the different dimensions of schizotypy. A unilateral overshadowing effect was observed, however, none of the dimensions of schizotypy predicted the magnitude of this effect. These results are the first to demonstrate this finding using an appropriately powered sample and reveal that a tendency to experience symptoms of schizophrenia does not impact upon the overshadowing effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martyn Quigley
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, United Kingdom.
| | - Alex Bradley
- School of Education and Sociology, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Haselgrove
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Treviño M, Castiello S, De la Torre-Valdovinos B, Osuna Carrasco P, Medina-Coss Y León R, Arias-Carrión O. Two-stage reinforcement learning task predicts psychological traits. Psych J 2023. [PMID: 36740455 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.633] [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: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
External sources of information influence human actions. However, psychological traits (PTs), considered internal variables, also play a crucial role in decision making. PTs are stable across time and contexts and define the set of behavioral repertoires that individuals express. Here, we explored how multiple metrics of adaptive behavior under uncertainty related to several PTs. Participants solved a reversal-learning task with volatile contingencies, from which we characterized a detailed behavioral profile based on their response sequences. We then tested the relationship between this multimetric behavioral profile and scores obtained from self-report psychological questionnaires. The PT measurements were based on the Hierarchical Taxonomy Of Psychopathology (HiTOP) model. By using multiple linear regression models (MLRMs), we found that the learning curves predicted important differences in the PTs and task response times. We confirmed the significance of these relationships by using random permutations of the predictors of the MLRM. Therefore, the behavioral profile configurations predicted the PTs and served as a "fingerprint" to identify participants with a high certainty level. We discuss briefly how this characterization and approach could contribute to better nosological classifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Treviño
- Laboratorio de Plasticidad Cortical y Aprendizaje Perceptual, Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
| | | | | | - Paulina Osuna Carrasco
- Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
| | - Ricardo Medina-Coss Y León
- Laboratorio de Plasticidad Cortical y Aprendizaje Perceptual, Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
| | - Oscar Arias-Carrión
- Unidad de Trastornos del Movimiento y Sueño, Hospital General Dr. Manuel Gea González, Mexico City, Mexico
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Walter EE, Fernandez F, Barkus E. Not all stress is created equal: Acute, not ambient stress, impairs learning in high schizotypes. Psych J 2021; 11:179-193. [PMID: 33915603 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.452] [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: 10/14/2020] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Learning from feedback is essential for daily functioning, with factors that impact learning having implications for healthy and clinical populations. Reinforcement learning appears impaired across the psychosis continuum, with deficits reported in patients with psychotic disorders as well as high schizotypes from the general population. Stress can impair learning, and sensitivity to stress is present along the psychosis continuum. The aim of the present study was to understand if stress impairs reinforcement learning in those at the lower end of the psychosis continuum. We investigated both naturalistic stress in everyday life using daily hassles (Study 1: n = 70; 31% male, M age = 22.67 years) and acute psychosocial stress using the Trier Social Stress Test (Study 2: n = 57; 32% male, M age = 22.43 years). In the presence of naturalistic stress, learning did not differ across schizotypes. However, under acute psychosocial stress, high schizotypes experienced impaired learning. Our results suggest trail-and-error learning is robust to the ebbs and flows of everyday stress for high schizotypes; however, acute stress is associated with decrements in learning. This indicates that the magnitude of stressors should be considered when designing cognitive and functional interventions for those along the psychosis continuum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma E Walter
- School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Francesca Fernandez
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Emma Barkus
- School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
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Dawes C, Bickerdike A, O'Neill C, Carneiro Pereira S, Waddington JL, Moran PM, O'Tuathaigh CMP. Cannabis Use, Schizotypy and Kamin Blocking Performance. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:633476. [PMID: 34887781 PMCID: PMC8649723 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.633476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cannabis use has been associated with increased risk for a first episode of psychosis and inappropriate assignment of salience to extraneous stimuli has been proposed as a mechanism underlying this association. Psychosis-prone (especially schizotypal) personality traits are associated with deficits in associative learning tasks that measure salience allocation. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between history of cannabis use and Kamin blocking (KB), a form of selective associative learning, in a non-clinical sample. Additionally, KB was examined in relation to self-reported schizotypy and aberrant salience scale profiles. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 307 healthy participants with no previous psychiatric or neurological history. Participants were recruited and tested using the Testable Minds behavioural testing platform. KB was calculated using Oades' "mouse in the house task", performance of which is disrupted in schizophrenia patients. Schizotypy was measured using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), and the Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) was used to assess self-reported unusual or inappropriate salience. The modified Cannabis Experience Questionnaire (CEQm) was used to collect detailed history of use of cannabis and other recreational drugs. Regression models and Bayesian t-tests or ANOVA (or non-parametric equivalents) examined differences in KB based on lifetime or current cannabis use (frequent use during previous year), as well as frequency of use among those who had previously used cannabis. Neither lifetime nor current cannabis use was associated with any significant change in total or trial-specific KB scores. Current cannabis use was associated with higher Disorganised SPQ dimension scores and higher total and sub-scale values for the ASI. A modest positive association was observed between total KB score and Disorganised SPQ dimension scores, but no relationships were found between KB and other SPQ measures. Higher scores on "Senses Sharpening" ASI sub-scale predicted decreased KB score only in participants who have not engaged in recent cannabis use. These results are discussed in the context of our understanding of the effects of long-term cannabis exposure on salience attribution, as well as inconsistencies in the literature with respect to both the relationship between KB and schizotypy and the measurement of KB associative learning phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Dawes
- School of Psychology, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Andrea Bickerdike
- Department of Sport, Leisure, and Childhood Studies, Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland
| | - Cian O'Neill
- Department of Sport, Leisure, and Childhood Studies, Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland
| | - Sarah Carneiro Pereira
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - John L Waddington
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Paula M Moran
- School of Psychology, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Colm M P O'Tuathaigh
- Medical Education Unit, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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Orjiakor CT, Watt A, Iorfa SK, Onu DU, Okonkwo AI. Associations between schizotypal traits and antisocial behaviours in a sub-Saharan sample. Arch Psychiatr Nurs 2019; 33:138-143. [PMID: 31753219 DOI: 10.1016/j.apnu.2019.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenic symptoms have often been associated with antisocial behaviours (ASBs). Most studies have focused on violence. The association between schizophrenia and violence is often confounded by socio demographic characteristics of patients. Overemphasis on diagnosis, rather than traits, and the traditional focus on violence may have obscured associations between psychotic features and antisocial behaviour. In this study, an analogue sample (n = 604, females = 54.4%, mean age = 21.46, SD = 5.89) completed self-report measures of schizotypy and antisocial behaviours. The aim was to identify the strength of associations between different schizotypal traits/symptoms (unusual experiences, cognitive disorganisation, impulsivity & introvertive anhedonia) and different forms of antisocial behaviour (rule breaking, physical aggression & social aggression). Differential patterns of association between genders were also considered. Traits akin to positive symptoms were more strongly associated with antisocial behaviours. Impulsive non-conformity was associated with rule breaking, physical aggression and social aggression for both males and females whilst unusual experiences traits were associated with physical and social aggression in both males and females but had only a weak (gender-nonspecific) association with rule breaking. Finally, cognitive disorganisation was not associated with any class of ASB for males but was associated with physical and social aggression in females. These specific associations could inform the development of more targeted treatment approaches for specific types of ASBs in males and females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles T Orjiakor
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; Health Policy Research Group, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria
| | - Andy Watt
- Department of Applied Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
| | - Steven K Iorfa
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
| | - Desmond U Onu
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
| | - Angela I Okonkwo
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
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Watt A, Skillicorn D. Negative schizotypy is associated with impaired episodic but not semantic coding in a conditional learning task. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2019.1629446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Watt
- Department of Applied Psychology, Cardiff School of Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Deiniol Skillicorn
- Department of Applied Psychology, Cardiff School of Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK
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Humpston CS, Evans LH, Teufel C, Ihssen N, Linden DE. Evidence of absence: no relationship between behaviourally measured prediction error response and schizotypy. Cogn Neuropsychiatry 2017; 22:373-390. [PMID: 28697644 PMCID: PMC5646181 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2017.1348289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The predictive processing framework has attracted much interest in the field of schizophrenia research in recent years, with an increasing number of studies also carried out in healthy individuals with nonclinical psychosis-like experiences. The current research adopted a continuum approach to psychosis and aimed to investigate different types of prediction error responses in relation to psychometrically defined schizotypy. METHODS One hundred and two healthy volunteers underwent a battery of behavioural tasks including (a) a force-matching task, (b) a Kamin blocking task, and (c) a reversal learning task together with three questionnaires measuring domains of schizotypy from different approaches. RESULTS Neither frequentist nor Bayesian statistical methods supported the notion that alterations in prediction error responses were related to schizotypal traits in any of the three tasks. CONCLUSIONS These null results suggest that deficits in predictive processing associated with clinical states of psychosis are not always present in healthy individuals with schizotypal traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara S. Humpston
- CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, Clara S. Humpston
| | - Lisa H. Evans
- CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | | | - Niklas Ihssen
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - David E. J. Linden
- CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK,School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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Msetfi RM, Kumar P, Harmer CJ, Murphy RA. SSRI enhances sensitivity to background outcomes and modulates response rates: A randomized double blind study of instrumental action and depression. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 131:76-82. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2015] [Revised: 01/14/2016] [Accepted: 03/04/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Granger KT, Moran PM, Buckley MG, Haselgrove M. Enhanced latent inhibition in high schizotypy individuals. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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11
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Haselgrove M, Le Pelley ME, Singh NK, Teow HQ, Morris RW, Green MJ, Griffiths O, Killcross S. Disrupted attentional learning in high schizotypy: Evidence of aberrant salience. Br J Psychol 2015; 107:601-624. [DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2015] [Revised: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Mike E. Le Pelley
- School of Psychology; UNSW Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders; Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | | | - Hui Qi Teow
- School of Psychology; UNSW Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Richard W. Morris
- School of Psychology; UNSW Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders; Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Melissa J. Green
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders; Sydney New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychiatry; UNSW Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Oren Griffiths
- School of Psychology; UNSW Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Simon Killcross
- School of Psychology; UNSW Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
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Haddon JE, George DN, Grayson L, McGowan C, Honey RC, Killcross S. Extreme Elemental Processing in a High Schizotypy Population: Relation to Cognitive Deficits. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2014; 67:918-35. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2013.838281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia have been characterized as a failure to utilize task-setting information to guide behaviour, especially in situations in which there is response conflict. Recently, we have provided support for this account; high schizotypy individuals demonstrated inferior biconditional discrimination performance compared to low scorers, but were not impaired on a simple discrimination that did not require the use of task-setting cues. These results may, however, also be explained by the way in which individuals with high schizotypy process stimulus compounds . Here, we examine the initial approaches to solving biconditional and control discrimination tasks of participants with high and low schizotypy scores. In particular, we focus on performance during the first block of training trials to capture processing style before the acquisition of the discrimination tasks. Participants scoring highly on the introvertive anhedonia subscale (which has been allied to the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia) demonstrated better biconditional performance during the first block of training trials than did low-schizotypy individuals, consistent with a highly elemental approach to stimulus processing. Subsequent recognition tests confirmed this analysis demonstrating that the pattern of performance observed in participants with high schizotypy was associated with a failure to discriminate conjunctions of items that had been seen before from those that had not. These results suggest that the negative/cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia may reflect an extreme bias towards elemental, as opposed to configural, processing of stimulus conjunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David N. George
- Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, UK
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Lois Grayson
- Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Simon Killcross
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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Byrom NC. Accounting for individual differences in human associative learning. Front Psychol 2013; 4:588. [PMID: 24027551 PMCID: PMC3761215 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2013] [Accepted: 08/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Associative learning has provided fundamental insights to understanding psychopathology. However, psychopathology occurs along a continuum and as such, identification of disruptions in processes of associative learning associated with aspects of psychopathology illustrates a general flexibility in human associative learning. A handful of studies have looked specifically at individual differences in human associative learning, but while much work has concentrated on accounting for flexibility in learning caused by external factors, there has been limited work considering how to model the influence of dispositional factors. This review looks at the range of individual differences in human associative learning that have been explored and the attempts to account for, and model, this flexibility. To fully understand human associative learning, further research needs to attend to the causes of variation in human learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola C. Byrom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of OxfordOxford, UK
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14
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Arnaudova I, Krypotos AM, Effting M, Boddez Y, Kindt M, Beckers T. Individual Differences in Discriminatory Fear Learning under Conditions of Ambiguity: A Vulnerability Factor for Anxiety Disorders? Front Psychol 2013; 4:298. [PMID: 23755030 PMCID: PMC3664781 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2013] [Accepted: 05/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex fear learning procedures might be better suited than the common differential fear-conditioning paradigm for detecting individual differences related to vulnerability for anxiety disorders. Two such procedures are the blocking procedure and the protection-from-overshadowing procedure. Their comparison allows for the examination of discriminatory fear learning under conditions of ambiguity. The present study examined the role of individual differences in such discriminatory fear learning. We hypothesized that heightened trait anxiety would be related to a deficit in discriminatory fear learning. Participants gave US-expectancy ratings as an index for the threat value of individual CSs following blocking and protection-from-overshadowing training. The difference in threat value at test between the protected-from-overshadowing conditioned stimulus (CS) and the blocked CS was negatively correlated with scores on a self-report tension-stress scale that approximates facets of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Stress (DASS-S), but not with other individual difference variables. In addition, a behavioral test showed that only participants scoring high on the DASS-S avoided the protected-from-overshadowing CS. This observed deficit in discriminatory fear learning for participants with high levels of tension-stress might be an underlying mechanism for fear overgeneralization in diffuse anxiety disorders such as GAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inna Arnaudova
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Science Center Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , Netherlands
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15
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Freeman TP, Morgan CJA, Pepper F, Howes OD, Stone JM, Curran HV. Associative blocking to reward-predicting cues is attenuated in ketamine users but can be modulated by images associated with drug use. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2013; 225:41-50. [PMID: 22829431 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-012-2791-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2012] [Accepted: 06/21/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Blocking is an associative learning process that is attenuated in schizophrenia, can be modulated by cue salience and is accompanied by changes in selective attention. Repeated exposure to ketamine can model aspects of schizophrenia, and frequent users selectively attend to images of the drug. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to establish whether (1) ketamine users show attenuated blocking to reward-predicting cues and (2) drug cues can modulate blocking and cause overshadowing of neutral cues that are equally predictive of reward in these individuals. METHODS Ketamine users (n = 18) and polydrug controls (n = 16) were assessed on the Drug Cue Reward Prediction Error Task, which indexes blocking and overshadowing to neutral and drug-related cues following Pavlovian reward conditioning. Schizotypy, depression, drug history and ketamine dependence were also assessed. RESULTS Compared to controls, ketamine users showed elevated delusional, schizotypal and depressive symptoms, and a reduction in blocking as evidenced by higher accuracy to blocked cues. Drug-related cues were resistant to blocking and seen as more important for earning money by ketamine users compared to controls. Both groups showed overshadowing of neutral cues by drug cues, and ketamine users gave both of these cues higher importance ratings than controls. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide the first evidence that (1) glutamatergic perturbation is linked to a reduction in blocking and (2) blocking can be modulated by the presence of drug-related cues. The ability of drug cues to bias selective learning about 'alternative rewards' has implications for contingency management based addiction treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom P Freeman
- Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.
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16
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Haddon JE, George DN, Grayson L, McGowan C, Honey RC, Killcross S. Rapid communication: Impaired conditional task performance in a high schizotypy population: Relation to cognitive deficits. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2011; 64:1-9. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2010.529579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia have been characterized as reflecting a core deficit in the maintenance or use of task-setting cues to mediate appropriate ongoing behaviour. This analysis suggests that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia will be particularly evident when different task-setting cues dictate when different responses are required by the same stimuli. One simple task in which task-setting cues are required is a biconditional discrimination. Here we examined the performance of participants with high and low schizotypy scores (Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995) on a biconditional discrimination and an otherwise equivalent, control discrimination that did not require the use of task-setting cues. Participants scoring highly on the Introvertive Anhedonia subscale (which has been allied to the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia) performed poorly on the biconditional, but not on the control, discrimination. No other subscales demonstrated a significant influence on either biconditional or control performance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David N. George
- Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Lois Grayson
- Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
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