Harald Lachnit - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Harald Lachnit
Anmeldung und Registrierung Angemeldete Tagungsteilnehmer/innen erhalten ihre Tagungsunterlagen i... more Anmeldung und Registrierung Angemeldete Tagungsteilnehmer/innen erhalten ihre Tagungsunterlagen im Tagungsbüro bzw. bereits während des "Get-together"-Abends. Anmeldungen zur TeaP2008 sind noch vor Ort im Tagungsbüro möglich. Bitte beachten Sie, dass wir im Tagungsbüro nur Barzahlung akzeptieren können. Ansprechpersonen Bei Fragen wenden Sie sich bitte an unsere Ansprechpersonen, die Sie an den blauen Namensschildern erkennen können. Garderobe Die Garderobe befindet sich im 2. Stock des Hörsaalgebäudes. Sie können dort während der Tagung Ihre Garderobe jederzeit abgeben bzw. abholen. Internetzugang Während der TeaP besteht die Möglichkeit, im Tagungsbüro das Internet zu nutzen. Genaue Informationen erhalten Sie vor Ort.
PubMed, 1996
Two logical relations, conjunction (AND) and exclusive disjunction (XOR) differ in formal complex... more Two logical relations, conjunction (AND) and exclusive disjunction (XOR) differ in formal complexity as well as in observable difficulties. AND results in less errors, fewer trials to criterion, and shorter processing time per trial than XOR. Two paradigms of differential classical conditioning are based on these rules. Negative patterning (A+, B+, AB-) equals XOR, and positive patterning (A-, B-, AB+) equals AND. We studied experimentally whether or not differences in processing time per trial are reflected in different optimal interstimulus intervals in human eyelid conditioning. Results of four groups (AND/XOR x 400/1200 ms; each group n = 10) suggest that differential conditioning could be observed in positive patterning (800-1000 ms) earlier than in negative patterning (1000-1200 ms).
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the mate... more This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The authors and the publisher of this volume have taken care that the information and recommendations contained herein are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ensure that all the information given is entirely accurate for all circumstances. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss, or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this volume.
Informationen Anreise Mit der Bahn Zielbahnhof ist GieBen. Wenn Sie mit dem Bus zum Tagungsort fa... more Informationen Anreise Mit der Bahn Zielbahnhof ist GieBen. Wenn Sie mit dem Bus zum Tagungsort fahren wollen, dann steigen Sie am Bahnhofsvorplatz in die Lime 2 zum Eichendorffring. Fahren Sie bis zur Haltestelle Graudenzer StraBe. Dort haben wir ein Schild aufgestellt, daB Sie auf den rechten Pfad weisen wird. Nach 5 Minuten FuBweg liegt ein weiBer Gebaudekomplex, das Philosophikum I vor Ihnen. Wenn Sie ein Taxi nehmen, heiBt Ihr Fahrtziel "Philosophikum I", wobei es den meisten Taxifahrem hilft, wenn Sie sagen, daB sie "zum Pferd" mochten (das ist der Gaul am Haupteingang). Vielleicht ist Ihnen der Stadtplan auf Seite 66 ebenfalls hilfreich. Mit dem eigenen PKW Auf Seite 64/65 finden Sie einen Plan zur Anfahrt.
Vorwort.3 Impressum.4 Allgemeine Informationen.5 Wann es losgeht.5 Tagungsburo.5 BegrufJungsabend... more Vorwort.3 Impressum.4 Allgemeine Informationen.5 Wann es losgeht.5 Tagungsburo.5 BegrufJungsabend.5 Anreise.5 a) Anreise mit dem Auto.5 b) Anreise mit der Bahn.7 c) Anreise mit dem Flugzeug.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the mate... more This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The authors and the publisher of this volume have taken care that the information and recommendations contained herein are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ensure that all the information given is entirely accurate for all circumstances. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss, or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this volume.
International Journal of Psychophysiology, Jul 1, 1991
PubMed, 1994
The experiment reported here was an attempt to demonstrate that the solution of specific discrimi... more The experiment reported here was an attempt to demonstrate that the solution of specific discrimination problems is based on rules rather than on differences in associative strengths. With positive and negative patterning as examples, we examined whether or not the solution of the discrimination problem depends on the number of reinforcements for each individual stimulus when the total number of reinforcements is kept constant. This was achieved by manipulating the number of stimuli used. We also examined the transfer to new stimuli. Forty subjects took part in a 2 x 2-factorial experiment with anticipatory skin conductance responses as the dependent variable. All the results were in accordance with the assumption of rule based problem solution. The amount of discrimination was independent of the number of reinforcements for each stimulus. Furthermore, according to results of concept formation studies, an asymmetry in transferring the solution to new stimuli was observed.
PubMed, 1994
Classical conditioning experiments can be used to study both cognition and emotions. In studies i... more Classical conditioning experiments can be used to study both cognition and emotions. In studies involving human subjects two different scores based on the human skin conductance response are generally used: the "first interval responses" (FIR) and the "second interval responses" (SIR). The SIR is thought to reflect cognitive but not emotional processes, while the FIR is assumed to reflect both. An experiment with two groups of subjects (n = 20 each) was run in order to demonstrate that the SIR indeed is able to reflect emotional processes. Each group was trained with five different conditioned stimuli, each of which was paired with a specific unconditioned stimulus. These unconditioned stimuli varied in aversiveness. Immediately after training, skin conductance responses to combinations of already trained conditioned stimuli were examined. The sequence of testing was varied across groups. Our results clearly showed that the SIR reflected aversiveness, while the FIR was confounded by orienting responses under these experimental conditions.
PubMed, 1994
Jenkins and Sainsbury (1969, 1979) first described an asymmetry in pigeon's operant discriminatio... more Jenkins and Sainsbury (1969, 1979) first described an asymmetry in pigeon's operant discrimination learning which they called a feature-positive effect. Subsequent studies demonstrated that other animals as well as humans also show a similar asymmetry. The effect is often explained as being caused by a bias in information processing which results from the neglect of negative information as a discriminative cue. The effect has also been observed in classical conditioning experiments, but not yet with human subjects. Sometimes, however, a reversal of the asymmetry, i.e., a feature-negative effect, has been observed. The experiment reported here primarily intended to demonstrate a feature-positive effect in a classical conditioning procedure with human subjects. Secondly, we also wanted to test an alternative explanation of the feature-positive effect. We found that a substantial feature-positive effect does indeed occur during classical conditioning in human subjects. Our results, however, did not fully support the alternative explanation based on rule learning.
Learning & Behavior, Feb 20, 2018
According to the attentional theory of context processing (ATCP), learning becomes context specif... more According to the attentional theory of context processing (ATCP), learning becomes context specific when acquired under conditions that promote attention toward contextual stimuli regardless of whether attention deployment is guided by learning experience or by other factors unrelated to learning. In one experiment with humans, we investigated whether performance in a predictive learning task can be brought under contextual control by means of a secondary task that was unrelated to predictive learning, but supposed to modulate participants' attention toward contexts. Initially, participants acquired cue-outcome relationships presented in contexts that were each composed of two elements from two dimensions. Acquisition training in the predictive learning task was combined with a one-back task that required participants to match across consecutive trials context elements belonging to one of the two dimensions. During a subsequent test, we observed that acquisition behavior in the predictive learning task was disrupted by changing the acquisition context along the dimension that was relevant for the one-back task, while there was no evidence for context specificity of predictive learning when the acquisition context was changed along the dimension that was irrelevant for the one-back task. Our results support the generality of the principles advocated by ATCP.
PubMed, Oct 1, 1986
An empirical evaluation of temporal aspects of contextual conditioning was conducted in relation ... more An empirical evaluation of temporal aspects of contextual conditioning was conducted in relation to Asratyan's (1965) theory of transswitching and to an alternative explanation that was partly stimulated by the Rescorla-Wagner model (Rescorla and Wagner 1972). On the basis of a human electrodermal conditioning preparation suggested by Kimmel and Ray (1978), five groups with 12 subjects each were run. The results indicated that the basic phenomena of transswitching are robust and therefore could be replicated; but the Asratyan theory was rejected. All the results supported an alternative explanation: in contextual conditioning, duration of contextual stimuli is less important than order. Phasic switching is due to simultaneous occurrence of stimuli (differential compound conditioning) and is therefore compatible with the Rescorla-Wagner model. Tonic switching is due to signals that occur before a marked sequence of conditioning trials, in part a challenge to the Rescorla-Wagner model. Long delays between critical events can perhaps be compensated for by mediating memory processes.
Psychophysiology, Oct 11, 2017
The attentional learning theory of Pearce and Hall (1980) predicts more attention to uncertain cu... more The attentional learning theory of Pearce and Hall (1980) predicts more attention to uncertain cues that have caused a high prediction error in the past. We examined how the cue-elicited pupil dilation during associative learning was linked to such errordriven attentional processes. In three experiments, participants were trained to acquire associations between different cues and their appetitive (Experiment 1), motor (Experiment 2), or aversive (Experiment 3) outcomes. All experiments were designed to examine differences in the processing of continuously reinforced cues (consistently followed by the outcome) versus partially reinforced, uncertain cues (randomly followed by the outcome). We measured the pupil dilation elicited by the cues in anticipation of the outcome and analyzed how this conditioned pupil response changed over the course of learning. In all experiments, changes in pupil size complied with the same basic pattern: During early learning, consistently reinforced cues elicited greater pupil dilation than uncertain, randomly reinforced cues, but this effect gradually reversed to yield a greater pupil dilation for uncertain cues toward the end of learning. The pattern of data accords with the changes in prediction error and error-driven attention formalized by the Pearce-Hall theory.
Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with two dissimilar images and visual awaren... more Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with two dissimilar images and visual awareness fluctuates between them. Previous findings suggest that perceptual dominance of a rewarded stimulus may increase relative to an unrewarded stimulus, implying a direct effect of reward on visual representations. Here, we asked how uncertainty about reward occurrence and average reward expectancy affect dominance in binocular rivalry. In three experiments, participants learnt to associate drifting gratings of distinct colors with different levels of uncertainty and expectancy. Uncertainty was manipulated by rewarding each correct trial either with 100% probability (no uncertainty) or with 50% probability (high uncertainty). The amount of reward was either identical per rewarded trial, yielding a lower expectancy in uncertain trials (Experiments 1 and 2), or reward expectancy was matched across uncertainty levels by doubling the award per rewarded trial for uncertain trials (Experiment 3). In Experiment 2, an additional low-reward condition with no uncertainty was included. Using a no-report paradigm, we measured the perceptual dominance of these gratings relative to a grating that was unassociated with reward, before and after associations had been acquired. When the rewarded stimulus feature (color) was task relevant, dominance durations increased for all rewarded gratings after acquisition. In an early phase after rivalry onset we found increased perceptual dominance for cues associated with uncertain reward compared to cues associated with certain reward. This confirms an effect of reward on perceptual dominance, and suggests that reward uncertainty associated with a stimulus has a direct bearing on its visual representation.
We used an implicit learning paradigm to examine the acquisition of color-reward associations whe... more We used an implicit learning paradigm to examine the acquisition of color-reward associations when colors were task-irrelevant and attention to color was detrimental to performance. Our task required a manual classification response to a shape target and a correct response was rewarded with either 1 or 10 cent. The amount of reward was contingent on the color of a simultaneous color distractor and different colors were associated with low reward (always 1 Cent), partial reward (randomly either 1 or 10 Cent), and high reward (always 10 Cent). Attention to color was nonstrategic for maximizing reward because it interfered with the response to the target. We examined the potential of reward-associated colors to capture and hold overt attention automatically. Reward expectancy increased with the average amount of associated reward (low < partial < high). Reward uncertainty was highest for the partially reward distractor color (low < partial > high). Results revealed that capture frequency was linked to reward expectancy, while capture duration additionally seemed to be influenced by uncertainty, complementing previous findings of such a dissociation in appetitive and aversive learning (Koenig, Kadel, Uengoer,
Behavioural Processes, Oct 1, 2020
Adding or removing context components equally disrupts extinction in human predictive learning Me... more Adding or removing context components equally disrupts extinction in human predictive learning Metin Uengoer (Conceptualization) (Methodology) (Software) (Formal analysis) (Writing-original draft) (Writing-review and editing) (Visualization) (Supervision) (Funding acquisition), Anna Thorwart (Conceptualization) (Formal analysis) (Writing-original draft), Sara Lucke (Conceptualization) (Methodology) (Software) (Formal analysis) (Investigation) (Writing-original draft) (Visualization), Markus Wöhr (Writing-review and editing), Harald Lachnit (Resources) (Writing-review and editing) (Supervision) (Funding acquisition)
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, May 25, 2021
We sought to provide evidence for a combined effect of two attentional mechanisms during associat... more We sought to provide evidence for a combined effect of two attentional mechanisms during associative learning. Participants’ eye movements were recorded as they predicted the outcomes following different pairs of cues. Across the trials of an initial stage, a relevant cue in each pair was consistently followed by one of two outcomes, while an irrelevant cue was equally followed by either of them. Thus, the relevant cue should have been associated with small relative prediction errors, compared to the irrelevant cue. In a later stage, each pair came to be followed by one outcome on a random half of the trials and by the other outcome on the remaining half, and thus there should have been a rise in the overall prediction error. Consistent with an attentional mechanism based on relative prediction error, an attentional advantage for the relevant cue was evident in the first stage. However, in accordance with a mechanism linked to overall prediction error, the attention paid to both types of cues increased at the beginning of the second stage. These results showed up in both dwell times and within-trial patterns of fixations, and they were predicted by a hybrid model of attention.
Anmeldung und Registrierung Angemeldete Tagungsteilnehmer/innen erhalten ihre Tagungsunterlagen i... more Anmeldung und Registrierung Angemeldete Tagungsteilnehmer/innen erhalten ihre Tagungsunterlagen im Tagungsbüro bzw. bereits während des "Get-together"-Abends. Anmeldungen zur TeaP2008 sind noch vor Ort im Tagungsbüro möglich. Bitte beachten Sie, dass wir im Tagungsbüro nur Barzahlung akzeptieren können. Ansprechpersonen Bei Fragen wenden Sie sich bitte an unsere Ansprechpersonen, die Sie an den blauen Namensschildern erkennen können. Garderobe Die Garderobe befindet sich im 2. Stock des Hörsaalgebäudes. Sie können dort während der Tagung Ihre Garderobe jederzeit abgeben bzw. abholen. Internetzugang Während der TeaP besteht die Möglichkeit, im Tagungsbüro das Internet zu nutzen. Genaue Informationen erhalten Sie vor Ort.
PubMed, 1996
Two logical relations, conjunction (AND) and exclusive disjunction (XOR) differ in formal complex... more Two logical relations, conjunction (AND) and exclusive disjunction (XOR) differ in formal complexity as well as in observable difficulties. AND results in less errors, fewer trials to criterion, and shorter processing time per trial than XOR. Two paradigms of differential classical conditioning are based on these rules. Negative patterning (A+, B+, AB-) equals XOR, and positive patterning (A-, B-, AB+) equals AND. We studied experimentally whether or not differences in processing time per trial are reflected in different optimal interstimulus intervals in human eyelid conditioning. Results of four groups (AND/XOR x 400/1200 ms; each group n = 10) suggest that differential conditioning could be observed in positive patterning (800-1000 ms) earlier than in negative patterning (1000-1200 ms).
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the mate... more This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The authors and the publisher of this volume have taken care that the information and recommendations contained herein are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ensure that all the information given is entirely accurate for all circumstances. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss, or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this volume.
Informationen Anreise Mit der Bahn Zielbahnhof ist GieBen. Wenn Sie mit dem Bus zum Tagungsort fa... more Informationen Anreise Mit der Bahn Zielbahnhof ist GieBen. Wenn Sie mit dem Bus zum Tagungsort fahren wollen, dann steigen Sie am Bahnhofsvorplatz in die Lime 2 zum Eichendorffring. Fahren Sie bis zur Haltestelle Graudenzer StraBe. Dort haben wir ein Schild aufgestellt, daB Sie auf den rechten Pfad weisen wird. Nach 5 Minuten FuBweg liegt ein weiBer Gebaudekomplex, das Philosophikum I vor Ihnen. Wenn Sie ein Taxi nehmen, heiBt Ihr Fahrtziel "Philosophikum I", wobei es den meisten Taxifahrem hilft, wenn Sie sagen, daB sie "zum Pferd" mochten (das ist der Gaul am Haupteingang). Vielleicht ist Ihnen der Stadtplan auf Seite 66 ebenfalls hilfreich. Mit dem eigenen PKW Auf Seite 64/65 finden Sie einen Plan zur Anfahrt.
Vorwort.3 Impressum.4 Allgemeine Informationen.5 Wann es losgeht.5 Tagungsburo.5 BegrufJungsabend... more Vorwort.3 Impressum.4 Allgemeine Informationen.5 Wann es losgeht.5 Tagungsburo.5 BegrufJungsabend.5 Anreise.5 a) Anreise mit dem Auto.5 b) Anreise mit der Bahn.7 c) Anreise mit dem Flugzeug.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the mate... more This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The authors and the publisher of this volume have taken care that the information and recommendations contained herein are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ensure that all the information given is entirely accurate for all circumstances. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss, or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this volume.
International Journal of Psychophysiology, Jul 1, 1991
PubMed, 1994
The experiment reported here was an attempt to demonstrate that the solution of specific discrimi... more The experiment reported here was an attempt to demonstrate that the solution of specific discrimination problems is based on rules rather than on differences in associative strengths. With positive and negative patterning as examples, we examined whether or not the solution of the discrimination problem depends on the number of reinforcements for each individual stimulus when the total number of reinforcements is kept constant. This was achieved by manipulating the number of stimuli used. We also examined the transfer to new stimuli. Forty subjects took part in a 2 x 2-factorial experiment with anticipatory skin conductance responses as the dependent variable. All the results were in accordance with the assumption of rule based problem solution. The amount of discrimination was independent of the number of reinforcements for each stimulus. Furthermore, according to results of concept formation studies, an asymmetry in transferring the solution to new stimuli was observed.
PubMed, 1994
Classical conditioning experiments can be used to study both cognition and emotions. In studies i... more Classical conditioning experiments can be used to study both cognition and emotions. In studies involving human subjects two different scores based on the human skin conductance response are generally used: the "first interval responses" (FIR) and the "second interval responses" (SIR). The SIR is thought to reflect cognitive but not emotional processes, while the FIR is assumed to reflect both. An experiment with two groups of subjects (n = 20 each) was run in order to demonstrate that the SIR indeed is able to reflect emotional processes. Each group was trained with five different conditioned stimuli, each of which was paired with a specific unconditioned stimulus. These unconditioned stimuli varied in aversiveness. Immediately after training, skin conductance responses to combinations of already trained conditioned stimuli were examined. The sequence of testing was varied across groups. Our results clearly showed that the SIR reflected aversiveness, while the FIR was confounded by orienting responses under these experimental conditions.
PubMed, 1994
Jenkins and Sainsbury (1969, 1979) first described an asymmetry in pigeon's operant discriminatio... more Jenkins and Sainsbury (1969, 1979) first described an asymmetry in pigeon's operant discrimination learning which they called a feature-positive effect. Subsequent studies demonstrated that other animals as well as humans also show a similar asymmetry. The effect is often explained as being caused by a bias in information processing which results from the neglect of negative information as a discriminative cue. The effect has also been observed in classical conditioning experiments, but not yet with human subjects. Sometimes, however, a reversal of the asymmetry, i.e., a feature-negative effect, has been observed. The experiment reported here primarily intended to demonstrate a feature-positive effect in a classical conditioning procedure with human subjects. Secondly, we also wanted to test an alternative explanation of the feature-positive effect. We found that a substantial feature-positive effect does indeed occur during classical conditioning in human subjects. Our results, however, did not fully support the alternative explanation based on rule learning.
Learning & Behavior, Feb 20, 2018
According to the attentional theory of context processing (ATCP), learning becomes context specif... more According to the attentional theory of context processing (ATCP), learning becomes context specific when acquired under conditions that promote attention toward contextual stimuli regardless of whether attention deployment is guided by learning experience or by other factors unrelated to learning. In one experiment with humans, we investigated whether performance in a predictive learning task can be brought under contextual control by means of a secondary task that was unrelated to predictive learning, but supposed to modulate participants' attention toward contexts. Initially, participants acquired cue-outcome relationships presented in contexts that were each composed of two elements from two dimensions. Acquisition training in the predictive learning task was combined with a one-back task that required participants to match across consecutive trials context elements belonging to one of the two dimensions. During a subsequent test, we observed that acquisition behavior in the predictive learning task was disrupted by changing the acquisition context along the dimension that was relevant for the one-back task, while there was no evidence for context specificity of predictive learning when the acquisition context was changed along the dimension that was irrelevant for the one-back task. Our results support the generality of the principles advocated by ATCP.
PubMed, Oct 1, 1986
An empirical evaluation of temporal aspects of contextual conditioning was conducted in relation ... more An empirical evaluation of temporal aspects of contextual conditioning was conducted in relation to Asratyan's (1965) theory of transswitching and to an alternative explanation that was partly stimulated by the Rescorla-Wagner model (Rescorla and Wagner 1972). On the basis of a human electrodermal conditioning preparation suggested by Kimmel and Ray (1978), five groups with 12 subjects each were run. The results indicated that the basic phenomena of transswitching are robust and therefore could be replicated; but the Asratyan theory was rejected. All the results supported an alternative explanation: in contextual conditioning, duration of contextual stimuli is less important than order. Phasic switching is due to simultaneous occurrence of stimuli (differential compound conditioning) and is therefore compatible with the Rescorla-Wagner model. Tonic switching is due to signals that occur before a marked sequence of conditioning trials, in part a challenge to the Rescorla-Wagner model. Long delays between critical events can perhaps be compensated for by mediating memory processes.
Psychophysiology, Oct 11, 2017
The attentional learning theory of Pearce and Hall (1980) predicts more attention to uncertain cu... more The attentional learning theory of Pearce and Hall (1980) predicts more attention to uncertain cues that have caused a high prediction error in the past. We examined how the cue-elicited pupil dilation during associative learning was linked to such errordriven attentional processes. In three experiments, participants were trained to acquire associations between different cues and their appetitive (Experiment 1), motor (Experiment 2), or aversive (Experiment 3) outcomes. All experiments were designed to examine differences in the processing of continuously reinforced cues (consistently followed by the outcome) versus partially reinforced, uncertain cues (randomly followed by the outcome). We measured the pupil dilation elicited by the cues in anticipation of the outcome and analyzed how this conditioned pupil response changed over the course of learning. In all experiments, changes in pupil size complied with the same basic pattern: During early learning, consistently reinforced cues elicited greater pupil dilation than uncertain, randomly reinforced cues, but this effect gradually reversed to yield a greater pupil dilation for uncertain cues toward the end of learning. The pattern of data accords with the changes in prediction error and error-driven attention formalized by the Pearce-Hall theory.
Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with two dissimilar images and visual awaren... more Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with two dissimilar images and visual awareness fluctuates between them. Previous findings suggest that perceptual dominance of a rewarded stimulus may increase relative to an unrewarded stimulus, implying a direct effect of reward on visual representations. Here, we asked how uncertainty about reward occurrence and average reward expectancy affect dominance in binocular rivalry. In three experiments, participants learnt to associate drifting gratings of distinct colors with different levels of uncertainty and expectancy. Uncertainty was manipulated by rewarding each correct trial either with 100% probability (no uncertainty) or with 50% probability (high uncertainty). The amount of reward was either identical per rewarded trial, yielding a lower expectancy in uncertain trials (Experiments 1 and 2), or reward expectancy was matched across uncertainty levels by doubling the award per rewarded trial for uncertain trials (Experiment 3). In Experiment 2, an additional low-reward condition with no uncertainty was included. Using a no-report paradigm, we measured the perceptual dominance of these gratings relative to a grating that was unassociated with reward, before and after associations had been acquired. When the rewarded stimulus feature (color) was task relevant, dominance durations increased for all rewarded gratings after acquisition. In an early phase after rivalry onset we found increased perceptual dominance for cues associated with uncertain reward compared to cues associated with certain reward. This confirms an effect of reward on perceptual dominance, and suggests that reward uncertainty associated with a stimulus has a direct bearing on its visual representation.
We used an implicit learning paradigm to examine the acquisition of color-reward associations whe... more We used an implicit learning paradigm to examine the acquisition of color-reward associations when colors were task-irrelevant and attention to color was detrimental to performance. Our task required a manual classification response to a shape target and a correct response was rewarded with either 1 or 10 cent. The amount of reward was contingent on the color of a simultaneous color distractor and different colors were associated with low reward (always 1 Cent), partial reward (randomly either 1 or 10 Cent), and high reward (always 10 Cent). Attention to color was nonstrategic for maximizing reward because it interfered with the response to the target. We examined the potential of reward-associated colors to capture and hold overt attention automatically. Reward expectancy increased with the average amount of associated reward (low < partial < high). Reward uncertainty was highest for the partially reward distractor color (low < partial > high). Results revealed that capture frequency was linked to reward expectancy, while capture duration additionally seemed to be influenced by uncertainty, complementing previous findings of such a dissociation in appetitive and aversive learning (Koenig, Kadel, Uengoer,
Behavioural Processes, Oct 1, 2020
Adding or removing context components equally disrupts extinction in human predictive learning Me... more Adding or removing context components equally disrupts extinction in human predictive learning Metin Uengoer (Conceptualization) (Methodology) (Software) (Formal analysis) (Writing-original draft) (Writing-review and editing) (Visualization) (Supervision) (Funding acquisition), Anna Thorwart (Conceptualization) (Formal analysis) (Writing-original draft), Sara Lucke (Conceptualization) (Methodology) (Software) (Formal analysis) (Investigation) (Writing-original draft) (Visualization), Markus Wöhr (Writing-review and editing), Harald Lachnit (Resources) (Writing-review and editing) (Supervision) (Funding acquisition)
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, May 25, 2021
We sought to provide evidence for a combined effect of two attentional mechanisms during associat... more We sought to provide evidence for a combined effect of two attentional mechanisms during associative learning. Participants’ eye movements were recorded as they predicted the outcomes following different pairs of cues. Across the trials of an initial stage, a relevant cue in each pair was consistently followed by one of two outcomes, while an irrelevant cue was equally followed by either of them. Thus, the relevant cue should have been associated with small relative prediction errors, compared to the irrelevant cue. In a later stage, each pair came to be followed by one outcome on a random half of the trials and by the other outcome on the remaining half, and thus there should have been a rise in the overall prediction error. Consistent with an attentional mechanism based on relative prediction error, an attentional advantage for the relevant cue was evident in the first stage. However, in accordance with a mechanism linked to overall prediction error, the attention paid to both types of cues increased at the beginning of the second stage. These results showed up in both dwell times and within-trial patterns of fixations, and they were predicted by a hybrid model of attention.