Abstract
Punishment maximises the probability of our individual survival by reducing behaviours that cause us harm, and also sustains trust and fairness in groups essential for social cohesion. However, some individuals are more sensitive to punishment than others and these differences in punishment sensitivity have been linked to a variety of decision-making deficits and psychopathologies. The mechanisms for why individuals differ in punishment sensitivity are poorly understood, although recent studies of conditioned punishment in rodents highlight a key role for punishment contingency detection (Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel et al., 2019). Here, we applied a novel 'Planets and Pirates' conditioned punishment task in humans, allowing us to identify the mechanisms for why individuals differ in their sensitivity to punishment. We show that punishment sensitivity is bimodally distributed in a large sample of normal participants. Sensitive and insensitive individuals equally liked reward and showed similar rates of reward-seeking. They also equally disliked punishment and did not differ in their valuation of cues that signalled punishment. However, sensitive and insensitive individuals differed profoundly in their capacity to detect and learn volitional control over aversive outcomes. Punishment insensitive individuals did not learn the instrumental contingencies, so they could not withhold behaviour that caused punishment and could not generate appropriately selective behaviours to prevent impending punishment. These differences in punishment sensitivity could not be explained by individual differences in behavioural inhibition, impulsivity, or anxiety. This bimodal punishment sensitivity and these deficits in instrumental contingency learning are identical to those dictating punishment sensitivity in non-human animals, suggesting that they are general properties of aversive learning and decision-making.
Highlights
Punishment learning, which encompasses the capacity to encode the adverse consequences of our behaviour, is fundamental to human behaviour
We found a bimodal distribution of punishment sensitivity and showed that punishment insensitivity is due to a failure of Neuroscience punishment contingency learning that was unrelated to aversion sensitivity, reward dominance, and Pavlovian fear
Punishment avoidance was bimodal, with one cluster showing strong avoidance and the other cluster showing none. These findings are remarkably similar to findings of bimodal punishment sensitivity in nonhuman animals (Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel et al, 2019; Marchant et al, 2018)
Summary
Punishment learning, which encompasses the capacity to encode the adverse consequences of our behaviour, is fundamental to human behaviour. This learning is central to decision-making, assessment of risk, and underpins our ability to adapt to a changing world. Punishment is a critical tool to promote behaviour change in others. Successful punishment learning maximises probability of our individual survival by reducing any behaviours that may cause us harm, but it sustains trust, fairness, and mutually beneficial behaviours essential for group cooperation and social cohesion (Boyd et al, 2010; Fehr and Fischbacher, 2003; Henrich et al, 2010).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
