2025 Theses Doctoral
Exploring the Effects of the Probability and Rate of Reward on Goal- and Sign-Tracking Behavior
In seven different experiments we dissociated and evidenced the independent effects of manipulations of the probability and rate of rewards on mice pavlovian autoshaping.
In the first 2 experiments, a pure goal-tracking behavioral paradigm was used to assess head-entry behavior while manipulating the probability of reward while confounded with the rate of reward (Exp1) and independently manipulated by the use of a split-trial design (Exp2). These experiments showed that both the probability and rate of reward can affect behavior at different points in training.
In Chapter II, three experiments dissociated the effects of the probability and rate of reward on an autoshaping paradigm where we could evaluate responses to cues independently from the responses to the reward. The effects of temporal uncertainty were also evaluated by comparing groups with fixed and variable cue durations. The results of this chapter showed that the probability and rate of reward may have opposite effects on ST, higher probability prompted higher rates of ST, but overall higher rates of ST were observed to cues rewarded with lower rate. These experiments showed that these differences were particularly pronounced under fixed cue durations.
Finally in Chapter III we tested on two within-subject autoshaping experiments if either the probability or rate of reward could guide anticipation when only one of these variables differed across cues. The results confirmed that both variables could guide the difference in ST to the two cues. These experiments show a more complex picture of ST behavior that is not compatible with theories of learning where only one informative variable guides behavior.
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More About This Work
- Academic Units
- Psychology
- Thesis Advisors
- Balsam, Peter
- Degree
- Ph.D., Columbia University
- Published Here
- January 29, 2025