Contingency degradation in humans: the effect of outcome identity

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Contingency degradation in humans: the effect of outcome identity Richard Morris1*, Amir Dezfouli1, Kristi Griffiths1 and Bernard Balleine1 1 University of Sydney, Brain & Mind Research Institute, Australia Learning the causal effects of our actions is essential for goal-directed behaviour. Distinguishing outcomes which are contingent on our actions from non-contingent outcomes is critical for this causal learning and depends on functionally segregated cortico-striatal loops in rodents and humans. In models of reinforcement learning, non-contingent outcomes decrease the value of the action as a function of their reward value. When non-contingent outcomes are equally rewarding as contingent outcomes then the action is redundant. In two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, we examine this prediction when contingent and non-contingent outcomes have the same reward value but the identity of the outcomes are similar or different. When only one action was available, fMRI activity in a thalamo-caudate-midbrain network was associated with contingent outcomes, and actions and causal learning were reduced by non-contingent outcomes regardless of their identity. However, when a choice between two action-outcome contingencies was provided, non-contingent outcomes reduced actions and causal learning in a selective manner and this was associated with fMRI activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. This outcome-specific degradation effect is similar in rodents and humans, but inconsistent with model-based and model-free reinforcement learning. The common assumption in reinforcement learning that action selection occurs on the basis of reward value is not sufficient to explain human or rodent decision-making in these circumstances. Keywords: Basal Ganglia, instrumental conditioning, causal learning, appetitive, action value Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Cognition and Executive Processes Citation: Morris R, Dezfouli A, Griffiths K and Balleine B (2015). Contingency degradation in humans: the effect of outcome identity. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00298 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Richard Morris, University of Sydney, Brain & Mind Research Institute, Camperdown, Australia, richard.morris@sydney.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Richard Morris Amir Dezfouli Kristi Griffiths Bernard Balleine Google Richard Morris Amir Dezfouli Kristi Griffiths Bernard Balleine Google Scholar Richard Morris Amir Dezfouli Kristi Griffiths Bernard Balleine PubMed Richard Morris Amir Dezfouli Kristi Griffiths Bernard Balleine Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.