Emergence of complex dynamics of choice due to repeated exposures to extinction learning

Roland Pusch,Julian Packheiser,José R Donoso,Zhiyin Lederer,Thomas Walther,Onur Güntürkün,Harald Lachnit,Sen Cheng,Metin Uengoer

doi:10.1007/s10071-021-01521-4

Roland Pusch, Julian Packheiser + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-021-01521-4

Copy DOI

Abstract

Extinction learning, the process of ceasing an acquired behavior in response to altered reinforcement contingencies, is not only essential for survival in a changing environment, but also plays a fundamental role in the treatment of pathological behaviors. During therapy and other forms of training involving extinction, subjects are typically exposed to several sessions with a similar structure. The effects of this repeated exposure are not well understood. Here, we studied the behavior of pigeons across several sessions of a discrimination-learning task in context A, extinction in context B, and a return to context A to test the context-dependent return of the learned responses (ABA renewal). By focusing on individual learning curves across animals, we uncovered a session-dependent variability of behavior: (1) during extinction, pigeons preferred the unrewarded alternative choice in one-third of the sessions, predominantly during the first one. (2) In later sessions, abrupt transitions of behavior at the onset of context B emerged, and (3) the renewal effect decayed as sessions progressed. We show that the observed results can be parsimoniously accounted for by a computational model based only on associative learning between stimuli and actions. Our work thus demonstrates the critical importance of studying the trial-by-trial dynamics of learning in individual sessions, and the power of “simple” associative learning processes.

Highlights

Animals modify their behavioral repertoire based on the consequences of their own actions
Stars on the top-right corner of panels mark the significance of the renewal effect and on the expression of the alternative choice during the extinction phase (Fig. 3)
By focusing on the expression of the learned and alternative choices from individual animals in single sessions, as well as on the corresponding learning curves, we uncovered a rich choice variability within and across sessions during the extinction and renewal-test phases: (1) Upon the onset of the extinction phase, pigeons tended to persist on the learned choice mostly during the first session, whereas abrupt transitions of behavior emerged exclusively in later sessions

Summary

Introduction

Animals modify their behavioral repertoire based on the consequences of their own actions. Whether a certain behavior is reinforced or not, respectively, increases or decreases the likelihood that this behavior is repeated in a similar situation (Skinner 1938) This process of operant conditioning is pivotal for the discovery of purposeful actions, and plays a fundamental role in the development of pathological behaviors such as drug addiction, overeating, and gambling (Bouton 2011; Everitt and Robbins 2005; Hyman 2005; Kelley 2004; Redish 2004). Rescorla and Wagner 1972), there is strong evidence that it involves new learning (Bouton 2019; Todd 2013; Trask et al 2017) According to the latter view, during extinction, the previously acquired memory trace responsible for a particular behavior is inhibited by a secondary memory trace. Understanding extinction and the factors that influence the reappearance of the extinguished behavior can be helpful in developing treatments for several pathological behaviors and in preventing their reappearance (Bouton 2011; Conklin and Tiffany 2002)

Methods

Results

Conclusion