Feedback-based Learning Research Articles

Multimodal mechanisms of human socially reinforced learning across neurodegenerative diseases.

Social feedback can selectively enhance learning in diverse domains. Relevant neurocognitive mechanisms have been studied mainly in healthy persons, yielding correlational findings. Neurodegenerative lesion models, coupled with multimodal brain measures, can complement standard approaches by revealing direct multidimensional correlates of the phenomenon.To this end, we assessed socially reinforced and non-socially reinforced learning in 40 healthy participants as well as persons with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (n = 21), Parkinson’s disease (n = 31) and Alzheimer’s disease (n = 20). These conditions are typified by predominant deficits in social cognition, feedback-based learning and associative learning, respectively, although all three domains may be partly compromised in the other conditions. We combined a validated behavioural task with ongoing EEG signatures of implicit learning (medial frontal negativity) and offline MRI measures (voxel-based morphometry).In healthy participants, learning was facilitated by social feedback relative to non-social feedback. In comparison with controls, this effect was specifically impaired in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson’s disease, while unspecific learning deficits (across social and non-social conditions) were observed in Alzheimer’s disease. EEG results showed increased medial frontal negativity in healthy controls during social feedback and learning. Such a modulation was selectively disrupted in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. Neuroanatomical results revealed extended temporo-parietal and fronto-limbic correlates of socially reinforced learning, with specific temporo-parietal associations in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and predominantly fronto-limbic regions in Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast, non-socially reinforced learning was consistently linked to medial temporal/hippocampal regions. No associations with cortical volume were found in Parkinson’s disease. Results are consistent with core social deficits in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, subtle disruptions in ongoing feedback-mechanisms and social processes in Parkinson’s disease and generalized learning alterations in Alzheimer’s disease. This multimodal approach highlights the impact of different neurodegenerative profiles on learning and social feedback.Our findings inform a promising theoretical and clinical agenda in the fields of social learning, socially reinforced learning and neurodegeneration.

Adaptive Empathy: Empathic Response Selection as a Dynamic, Feedback-Based Learning Process.

Empathy allows us to respond to the emotional state of another person. Considering that an empathic interaction may last beyond the initial response, learning mechanisms may be involved in dynamic adaptation of the reaction to the changing emotional state of the other person. However, traditionally, empathy is assessed through sets of isolated reactions to another's distress. Here we address this gap by focusing on adaptive empathy, defined as the ability to learn and adjust one's empathic responses based on feedback. For this purpose, we designed a novel paradigm of associative learning in which participants chose one of two empathic strategies (reappraisal or distraction) to attenuate the distress of a target person, where one strategy had a higher probability of relieving distress. After each choice, participants received feedback about the success of their chosen strategy in relieving the target person's distress, which they could use to inform their future decisions. The results show that the participants made more accurate choices in the adaptive empathy condition than in a non-social control condition, pointing to an advantage for learning from social feedback. We found a correlation between adaptive empathy and a trait measure of cognitive empathy. These findings indicate that the ability to learn about the effectiveness of empathic responses may benefit from incorporating mentalizing abilities. Our findings provide a lab-based model for studying adaptive empathy and point to the potential contribution of learning theory to enhancing our understanding of the dynamic nature of empathy.

PNTRS

A news recommendation system not only must recommend the latest, trending, and personalized news to the users but also give opportunity to know about the people's opinion on trending news. Most of the existing news recommendation systems focus on recommending news articles based on user-specific tweets. In contrast to these recommendation systems, the proposed Personalized News and Tweet Recommendation System (PNTRS) recommends tweets based on the recommended article. It firstly generates news recommendation based on user's interest and twitter profile using the Multinomial Naïve Bayes (MNB) classifier. Further, the system uses these recommended articles to recommend various trending tweets using fuzzy inference system. Additionally, feedback-based learning is applied to improve the efficiency of the proposed recommendation system. The user feedback rating is taken to evaluate the satisfaction level, and it is 7.9 on the scale of 10.

Learning With and Without Feedback in Children With Developmental Language Disorder

Purpose Intervention provided to school-age children with developmental language disorder often relies on the provision of performance feedback, yet it is unclear whether children with this disorder benefit from feedback-based learning. The study evaluates the effect of performance feedback on learning in children with developmental language disorder. Method Thirteen 8- to 12-year-old children with developmental language disorder and 14 age- and gender-matched children with typical language development completed two learning tasks whose objective was to pair nonword novel names with novel objects. The two tasks differed in the presence of performance feedback to guide learning. Learning outcomes on immediate and follow-up tests were compared between the feedback-based and feedback-free tasks. Additionally, an electrophysiological marker of feedback processing was compared between children with and without developmental language disorder. Results Children with developmental language disorder demonstrated poorer learning outcomes on both tasks when compared with their peers, but both groups achieved better accuracy on the feedback-free task when compared with the feedback-based task. Within the feedback-based task, children were more likely to repeat a correct response than to change it after positive feedback but were as likely to repeat an error as they were to correct it after receiving negative feedback. While children with typical language elicited a feedback-related negativity with greater amplitude to negative feedback, this event-related potential had no amplitude differences between positive and negative feedback in children with developmental language disorder. Conclusions Findings indicate that 8- to 12-year-old children benefit more from a feedback-free learning environment and that negative feedback is not as effective as positive feedback in facilitating learning in children. The behavioral and electrophysiological data provide evidence that feedback processing is impaired in children with developmental language disorders. Future research should evaluate feedback-based learning in children with this disorder using other learning paradigms.

Electrophysiological Examination of Feedback-Based Learning in 8-11-Year-Old Children.

The study aimed at evaluating the extent to which the feedback related negativity (FRN), an ERP component associated with feedback processing, is related to learning in school-age children. Eighty typically developing children between the ages of 8 and 11 years completed a declarative learning task while their EEG was recorded. The study evaluated the predictive value of the FRN on learning retention as measured by accuracy on a follow-up test a day after the session. The FRN elicited by positive feedback was found to be predictive of learning retention in children. The relationship between the FRN and learning was moderated by age. The P3a was also found to be associated with learning, such that larger P3a to negative feedback was associated with better learning retention in children.

Feedback-Based Learning of Timing in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Neurofibromatosis Type 1.

Patients with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) frequently display symptoms resembling those of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Importantly, these disorders are characterised by distinct changes in the dopaminergic system, which plays an important role in timing performance and feedback-based adjustments in timing performance. In a transdiagnostic approach, we examine how far NF1 and ADHD show distinct or comparable profiles of timing performance and feedback-based adjustments in timing. We examined time estimation and learning processes in healthy control children (HC), children with ADHD with predominantly inattentive symptoms and those with NF1 using a feedback-based time estimation paradigm. Healthy controls consistently responded closer to the correct time window than both patient groups, were less variable in their reaction times and displayed intact learning-based adjustments across time. The patient groups did not differ from each other regarding the number of in-time responses. In ADHD patients, the performance was rather unstable across time. No performance changes could be observed in patients with NF1 across the entire task. Children with ADHD and NF1 differ in feedback learning-based adjustments of time estimation processes. ADHD is characterised by behavioural fluctuations during the learning process. These are likely to be associated with inefficiencies in the dopaminergic system. NF1 is characterised by impairments of feedback learning which could be due to various neurotransmitter alterations occurring in addition to deficits in dopamine synthesis. Results show that despite the strong overlap in clinical phenotype and neuropsychological deficits between NF1 and ADHD, the underlying cognitive mechanisms are different.

The impact of social anxiety on feedback-based go and nogo learning

The term “Pavlovian” bias describes the phenomenon that learning to execute a response to obtain a reward or to inhibit a response to avoid punishment is much easier than learning the reverse. The present study investigated the interplay between this learning bias and individual levels of social anxiety. Since avoidance behavior is a hallmark feature of social anxiety and high levels of social anxiety have been associated with better learning from negative feedback, it is conceivable that the Pavlovian bias is altered in individuals with high social anxiety, with a strong tendency to avoid negative feedback, especially (but not only) in a nogo context. In addition, learning may be modulated by the individual propensity to learn from positive or negative feedback, which can be assessed as a trait-like feature. A sample of 84 healthy university students completed an orthogonalized go/nogo task that decoupled action type (go/nogo) and outcome valence (win/avoid) and a probabilistic selection task based upon which the individual propensity to learn from positive and negative feedback was determined. Self-reported social anxiety and learning propensity were used as predictors in linear mixed-effect model analysis of performance accuracy in the go/nogo task. Results revealed that high socially anxious subjects with a propensity to learn better from negative feedback showed particularly pronounced learning for nogo to avoid while lacking significant learning for nogo to win as well as go to avoid. This result pattern suggests that high levels of social anxiety in concert with negative learning propensity hamper the overcoming of Pavlovian bias in a win context while facilitating response inhibition in an avoidance context. The present data confirm the robust Pavlovian bias in feedback-based learning and add to a growing body of evidence for modulation of feedback learning by individual factors, such as personality traits. Specifically, results show that social anxiety is associated with altered Pavlovian bias, and might suggest that this effect could be driven by altered basal ganglia function primarily affecting the nogo pathway.

Collaborative Writing and Self Confidence among Vocational Education Learners

Almost universally, professional development courses combine classroom and real-world training. Students in vocational education have trouble combining the formal explicit information they learn in school with the informal tacit knowledge they learn on the job. There will be an investigation into the role of writing and peer cooperation in articulating conceptual and experiential knowledge during this design research project. At a school for social and health care assistants, 40 first- and second-year students wrote about real-world experiences, shared them with their peers, and participated in written and spoken conversations with their classmates and the teacher. It was made possible for participants to collaborate and write on the web using a wiki, a web-based platform for collaborative writing. Study results indicate that first-year students developed a lot of self-assurance, but sophomores performed less well on a competency assessment. Its collaborative character was also a big hit with students. The discussion focuses on the creation of writing and peer feedback-based learning activities for students to explain their intellectual and experiential knowledge.

Increased Anxiety is Associated with Better Learning from Negative Feedback

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health problems; it is known to impede cognitive functioning. It is believed to alter preferences for feedback-based learning in anxious and non-anxious learners. Thus, the present study measured feedback processing in adults ( N = 30) with and without anxiety symptoms using a probabilistic learning task. Event-related potential (ERP) measures were used to assess how the bias for either positive or negative feedback learning is reflected by the feedback-related negativity component (FRN), an ERP extracted from the electroencephalogram. Anxious individuals, identified by means of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, showed a diminished FRN and increased accuracy after negative compared to positive feedback. Non-anxious individuals exhibited the reversed pattern with better learning from positive feedback, highlighting their preference for positive feedback. Our ERP results imply that impairments with feedback-based learning in anxious individuals are due to alterations in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. Our finding that anxious individuals seem to favor negative as opposed to positive feedback has important implications for teacher–student feedback communication.

Neural Correlates of Causal Confounding

As scientists, we are keenly aware that if putative causes perfectly covary, the independent influence of neither can be discerned-a "no confounding" constraint on inference, fundamental to philosophical and statistical perspectives on causation. Intriguingly, a substantial behavioral literature suggests that naïve human reasoners, adults and children, are tacitly sensitive to causal confounding. Here, a combination of fMRI and computational cognitive modeling was used to investigate neural substrates mediating such sensitivity. While being scanned, participants observed and judged the influences of various putative causes with confounded or nonconfounded, deterministic or stochastic, influences. During judgments requiring generalization of causal knowledge from a feedback-based learning context to a transfer probe, activity in the dorsomedial pFC was better accounted for by a Bayesian causal model, sensitive to both confounding and stochasticity, than a purely error-driven algorithm, sensitive only to stochasticity. Implications for the detection and estimation of distinct forms of uncertainty, and for a neural mediation of domain-general constraints on causal induction, are discussed.

Feedback timing modulates interactions between feedback processing and memory encoding: Evidence from event-related potentials.

Feedback-based learning relies on a procedural learning system driven by reward prediction errors (RPEs). The processing of temporally delayed feedback is supported by brain structures associated with declarative memory processes, but it is still unknown how delayed feedback processing and memory encoding interact. In this study, a subsequent memory paradigm was employed to investigate how the incidental encoding of feedback pictures presented with a short (SD, 500 ms) or long (LD, 6500 ms) delay in a probabilistic learning task affects the event-related potential (ERP) correlate of RPEs (i.e., the feedback-related negativity; FRN). In an ensuing test phase, a surprise recognition memory test for the feedback pictures was conducted. FRN amplitudes measured in the feedback-locked ERPs recorded during the learning phase (FRNpeak) and in the negative minus positive feedback difference wave (FRNdiff) were compared for subsequently remembered and forgotten feedback pictures. Feedback processing as reflected in the FRNpeak was diminished for remembered LD feedback pictures, indicating that delayed feedback processing and memory encoding competed for similar neural processing resources. As evidenced by large FRNdiff amplitudes in the SD condition, the evaluation of shortly delayed feedback strongly relied on the procedural learning system. A complementary model-based single trial analysis was conducted to validate models of the functional significance of the FRN. Consistent with previous studies, feedback-locked N170 and P300 amplitudes were sensitive to feedback delay. In the test phase, memory for LD feedback pictures was better than for SD pictures and accompanied by a late old-new effect, presumably reflecting extended recollective processing.

Peer Learning in Technical Education and it’s Worthiness: some facts based on implementation

Peer Learning is considered one of the innovative teaching learning strategies in current engineering education. It covers many learning techniques suitable for both in and out of the classroom. Some of the types includes peer tutoring, groups discussions (small or large groups), and feedback-based learning. These methods have been proven effective to improve students understanding provided peer learning techniques are well monitored and assisted. In this attempt of implementing peer learning, instructor assisted peer learning is adopted to see the effectiveness of the learning technique. The method is applied to 4th Sem B. Tech. in Computer Engineering in Computer Networks subject. Students are divided into group 0f 5-6 with a mix of fast learner, slow learner and regular (in attending lectures). A problem based on the previously discussed topic was given and asked to solve in a group within the class room. However, initially one member from each group has to come and describe the underlaying theory behind the problem and necessary care to be taken to solve it. After the activity, feedback on the activity is taken to know the reaction of the student. One quiz is also conducted to see the understanding of the topic. Similar quiz is also conducted in another class where the peer learning was not adopted and results are compared. Observation shows that understanding of the topic is better in the class where peer learning was adopted. An analysis of the students’ feedback and results are presented in the paper.

Learner centric feedback-based learning analytics

Now a day, E-learning is a widely used way of learning. After the wide spread availability of Internet, e-learning became the first choice of a large group of learners as it provides the facility to learn anytime anywhere. The only thing that makes a difference in e -learning and traditional face- to- face learning is learner gets the proper feedback from teachers in traditional way of learning, but today’s e-learning systems also facilitates the feedback-based guidance to the learners. In this paper, we collected feedbacks of 120 undergraduate students of Department of Computer Science, Aligarh Muslim University, India and analyzed the role of learner centric feedback and proposed learner centric feedback based e-learning model to facilitate the overall e-learning objectives and improved performance of learner consequently to enhance learner’s cognitive abilities. Learner centric feedback-based e-Learning Model facilitates to achieve multidimensional improvement in learner. Learner centric feedback provided by different stakeholders makes this model special. A prediction system has been developed to predict low performance learner on the basis of analysis of feedback given by the learners on different video tutorials using various machine learning algorithms. Results and findings of our study conclude that Support Vector Machine classifier chives the accuracy of 91.30% that is the highest among other classifiers used in this study. This study specifies the importance and requirement of learner centric feedback in e-learning tutorials and the scope of personalized feedbacks. This model can be further improved for analyzing audio and video feedbacks.

Effects of feedback delay and agency on feedback-locked beta and theta power during reinforcement learning.

Feedback-based learning initiated by dopamine (DA) cell firing is crucial for adaptive behavior. The nature and context of feedback can vary, however, affecting how feedback is processed. For example, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) in the ERP in humans, which has been linked to the DA system, is reduced for delayed feedback and for observational compared to active learning. Recent research suggested that oscillations in the theta and beta band over the medio-frontal cortex reflect distinct feedback processing mechanisms. In this study, we hypothesized that the power in both frequency bands is affected by feedback delay and agency. We thus investigated effects of feedback delay (1s vs. 7s) on induced theta and beta band power and the FRN in a probabilistic feedback learning task in two participant groups, one learning actively and one by observation. For theta and beta, a larger power difference between negative and positive feedback for immediate than delayed feedback was found, driven by positive feedback for beta and by negative feedback for theta, while no differential modulation by agency was seen for theta or beta power following positive and negative feedback. These results indicate that feedback-locked beta and theta both reflect neural processes that are specific for the integration of feedback and recently preceding events, possibly linked to cognitive control and memory. With respect to the FRN amplitude, we could replicate previous findings of both delay and agency modulations, suggesting that the neural processes underlying feedback-locked ERPs and theta and beta power modulations differ.

Oxytocin moderates risky decision-making during the Iowa Gambling Task: A new insight based on the role of oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms and interventional cognitive study

The oxytocinergic system influences attentional bias towards emotional cues and feedback-based learning. Considering a tag single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) found through analysis of an intronic haplotype in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene, we investigated the effect of oxytocin on risky decision-making via the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Young healthy males received intranasal oxytocin or placebo, and the IGT was performed where raw scores, net scores and total time were recorded, and ratio of advantageous to disadvantageous choices was calculated. Using PCR-pyrosequencing, a 761 bp target sequence in the OXTR gene was amplified and sequenced after the extraction of whole blood DNA. Employing Haploview, haplotypes and linkage disequilibrium (LD) pattern among all 14 SNPs in the intronic region were determined based on D′ and LOD values, and rs2254295 with the highest LD was indicated as the tag SNP. GTT was shown to have the highest frequency among the found haplotypes. Oxytocin group and participants with the TT genotype demonstrated a significantly increased raw score, net score and advantageous choices, whereas the total time was not influenced remarkably. This means that oxytocin significantly reduced the risk taking in decision-making, and participants with the TT genotype had less premature or risky decisions than those with the CT and CC genotypes. rs2254295 may modulate the function or expression of the OXTR gene, implying that T allele may increase the expression of the OXTR gene compared to C allele. We suggest that oxytocin may remarkably moderate the risk attitude and its consequences during uncertain decision-making.

Immediate and delayed auditory feedback in declarative learning: An examination of the feedback related event related potentials

The study examined the effect of feedback timing on the FRN and N170 ERP components in the context of feedback-based learning, by manipulating feedback timing and presenting auditory feedback. Previous studies reported that the FRN was modulated by feedback timing when feedback was visual. Additionally, the N170 ERP component was recently found to be sensitive to the timing of visual feedback (Arbel et al., 2017). The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the extent to which the FRN and N170 are modulated by feedback timing when feedback is auditory. Thirty healthy young adults were tasked with learning the names of 56 novel objects through trial-and-error guided by feedback in a two-choice paired association task. The 56 object-name pairs were divided into four sets, each containing fourteen items presented in five training blocks and a sixth testing block. In two of the sets auditory feedback was given 500 ms following a response, and in the two other sets feedback delivery was delayed by 6500 ms. The FRN was not found sensitive to the timing of the auditory feedback. However, sensitivity to timing was found in the N1-P2 complex preceding the FRN. The N170 was found sensitive to both feedback timing and valence, providing additional evidence to its relevance to feedback processing. Moreover, the elicitation of the N170 by auditory feedback suggests that the system that gives rise to the N170 in the context of processing delayed feedback is not unique to visual input.

Fall Prevention as Personal Learning and Changing Behaviors: Systems and Technologies

While living longer at home is the preferred option for the elderly, disease, accidents or general health decline might make this hard. Fall accidents, which are among the chief causes of unforced injury leading to hospitalization, must be viewed as a strong factor working against the possibilities for the elderly of living longer at home. Although many fall prevention programs have been developed and applied, and checklists and advice abound, most of these originate in the professional care area or depend on care professionals. In this paper, we present a fall prevention concept directed towards elderly people living at home, with the intention of providing a safer environment ensuring more years of doing this in a healthy manner. There are several obstacles for a successful implementation of fall prevention, many pending on the attitudes and thought systems of the elderly user community, including low risk awareness, technological stigmata, refusal to be associated with health problems and a general “not for me” world view. The paper presents an AI/IoT-driven learning environment for fall prevention which facilitates living independently and improved self-understanding to provide for easier everyday living. The central design idea is to lead the user through a learning process including acquiring knowledge of fall prevention, personal characteristics, taking fall prevention action and understanding the outcomes of changed behaviors. The concluding outcome is a discussion of a set of design variables for the effective implementation of fall prevention systems, including a holistic view of fall prevention and aging, open platform technologies, a flexible and adaptable module approach, feedback-based learning, IoT/sensor-driven learning, personalization and goal orientation and the dual use of technology avoiding technology stigmas.

Neurobiological responses in the adolescent striatum to being 'tested'.

While emerging research implicates the striatum in adolescents' ability to learn from feedback, little is known about how motivational contexts, such as emphasizing the evaluative nature of learning tasks, modulate adolescents' striatal learning. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging during a feedback-based learning task, in conjunction with a within-subject evaluative threat manipulation, to determine whether evaluation threat influences behavioral and neural responses to feedback in adolescents. On average, adolescents were less sensitive than adults to the evaluation threat. In the adolescents, the effect of evaluation threat on performance was tracked with the striatal response to performance feedback during the evaluation threat condition, such that greater striatal sensitivity correlated with greater gains in learning performance. Our findings suggest that variability in how adolescents respond to a contextual threat of evaluation and associated striatal sensitivity can facilitate enhanced learning.

Meditation experience predicts negative reinforcement learning and is associated with attenuated FRN amplitude

Focused attention meditation (FAM) practices are cognitive control exercises where meditators learn to maintain focus and attention in the face of distracting stimuli. Previous studies have shown that FAM is both activating and causing plastic changes to the mesolimbic dopamine system and some of its target structures, particularly the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and striatum. Feedback-based learning also depends on these systems and is known to be modulated by tonic dopamine levels. Capitalizing on previous findings that FAM practices seem to cause dopamine release, the present study shows that FAM experience predicts learning from negative feedback on a probabilistic selection task. Furthermore, meditators exhibited attenuated feedback-related negativity (FRN) as compared with nonmeditators and this effect scales with meditation experience. Given that reinforcement learning and FRN are modulated by dopamine levels, a possible explanation for our findings is that FAM practice causes persistent increases in tonic dopamine levels which scale with amount of practice, thus altering feedback processing.

Left-shifting prism adaptation boosts reward-based learning

Visuospatial cognition has an inherent lateralized bias. Individual differences in the direction and magnitude of this bias are associated with asymmetrical D2/3 dopamine binding and dopamine system genotypes. Dopamine level affects feedback-based learning and dopamine signaling asymmetry is related to differential learning from reward and punishment. High D2 binding in the left hemisphere is associated with preference for reward. Prism adaptation (PA) is a simple sensorimotor technique, which modulates visuospatial bias according to the direction of the deviation. Left-deviating prism adaptation (LPA) induces rightward bias in healthy subjects. It is therefore possible that the right side of space increases in saliency along with left hemisphere dopaminergic activity. Right-deviating prism adaptation (RPA) has been used mainly as a control condition because it does not modulate behavior in healthy individuals. Since LPA induces a rightward visuospatial bias as a result of left hemisphere modulation, and higher dopaminergic activity in the left hemisphere is associated with preference for rewarding events we hypothesized that LPA would increase the preference for learning with reward. Healthy volunteers performed a computer-based probabilistic classification task before and after LPA or RPA. Consistent with our predictions, PA altered the preference for rewarded versus punished learning, with the LPA group exhibiting increased learning from reward. These results suggest that PA modulates dopaminergic activity in a lateralized fashion.