The Relationship Between Impulsivity for Reward and Learning From Reward
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1
University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Australia
Background: Although relatively large numbers of Australians are drug users, few individuals transition from low-level occasional use to substance dependence. The specific factors influencing this transition remain unclear. Substance dependent individuals tend to be swayed by the immediate rewards of drug taking, but are often insensitive to the delayed negative consequences of their behaviour. Dependence is consequently associated with impulsivity for reward and atypical learning from feedback. Animal and human studies of drug naïve populations demonstrate impulsivity for reward might precede drug-related problems. Research also suggests dependent individuals are more likely to learn from rewarding (relative to punishing) feedback, which may explain why they fail to modify their behaviour in response to negative outcomes, and may constitute a further pre-existing risk factor for substance dependence. Although impulsivity for reward and preferential learning from rewarding feedback are both underpinned by a compromised dopaminergic system, few studies have examined the relationship between these two mechanisms.
Method: Ninety-eight healthy individuals (52 female, M = 23.53, SD = 6.07) undertook 1) An inhibitory control task that quantified ability to inhibit responses in the presence of immediate reward, and 2) A spatial associative learning task that measured capacity to learn from positive and negative feedback (monetary reward and punishment).
Results: 1) Compared to the neutral condition, inhibitory control was significantly reduced in the presence of immediate reward, 2) Compared to the punishing feedback condition, recall was significantly better following rewarding feedback, and 3) A reduced ability to inhibit responses in the presence of immediate reward was significantly associated with a preference for learning from rewarding, relative to punishing, feedback.
Discussion: Results suggest individual differences in inhibitory control are related to individual differences in learning from feedback in the healthy population. The interplay of these processes may provide evidence explaining why some individuals transition to substance dependence. While our data support an overall relationship, there was a subgroup that was both highly impulsive for, and sensitive to learning from, reward. It is possible these two mechanisms serve as dual pre-existing cognitive markers for vulnerability to the transition from substance use to dependence.
Keywords:
substance dependence,
Inhibitory Control,
associative learning,
Impulsivity and self-control,
Reward sensitivity
Conference:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Other
Citation:
Poulton
A,
Harrington
K,
Mackenzie
C and
Hester
R
(2013). The Relationship Between Impulsivity for Reward and Learning From Reward.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00049
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Received:
15 Oct 2013;
Published Online:
25 Nov 2013.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Robert Hester, University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia, hesterr@unimelb.edu.au