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An Operant Intra-/Extra-dimensional Set-shift Task for Mice
Published on: January 22, 2016
Learned irrelevance and response perseveration in a total change dimensional shift task
J H R Maes1, J Vich, P A T M Eling
1NICI/Biological Psychology, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. r.maes@nici.ru.nl
Brain and Cognition
|May 11, 2006
Summary
Participants demonstrated a strong tendency to ignore previously irrelevant information, even when it became crucial after a task shift. This highlights the persistence of learned irrelevance in cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Learning and Memory
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- Discrimination learning involves identifying relevant stimulus dimensions.
- Learned irrelevance can persist even when prior stimulus-response associations are invalidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the persistence of learned irrelevance in a total change discrimination task.
- To examine error patterns following a shift in the relevant stimulus dimension.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-six healthy participants completed a discrimination learning task.
- A 'total change' design was employed where all post-shift stimuli were novel.
- Three conditions assessed errors related to perseveration, continued ignoring, or both.
Main Results:
- Participants in the perseveration condition made fewer errors post-shift compared to other conditions.
- Conditions involving continued ignoring of the former irrelevant dimension did not differ in error rates.
Conclusions:
- The learned irrelevance mechanism shows a strong predominance, even when direct learning transfer is impossible.
- Cognitive flexibility may be influenced by the established irrelevance of certain stimulus dimensions.
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