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Updated: Apr 26, 2026
06:11
A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats
Published on: February 20, 2019
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Reward determines the context-sensitivity of cognitive control.
Senne Braem1, Clayton Hickey2, Wout Duthoo1
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University.
Summary
High reward enhances cognitive control by promoting context-sensitivity, while low reward diminishes this effect. This suggests reward influences how we monitor and adapt to conflicting information.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Cognitive control processes are influenced by reward, but its effect on context-sensitivity remains unclear.
- Reward may enhance the saliency of visual features, impacting future perception and attentional capture.
- The interplay between reward and visual context could affect higher cognitive control, like conflict monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how reward influences the context-sensitivity of cognitive control, specifically conflict monitoring.
- To determine if reward modulates the scope of cognitive control based on contextual visual features.
Main Methods:
- Combined a visual search paradigm with a letter flanker task to assess context-sensitivity.
- Implemented a reward manipulation (high vs. low reward) in a second experiment.
Main Results:
- The congruency sequence effect, indicating context-sensitivity, was observed with repeating salient features but disappeared with alternating features.
- This context-sensitivity was promoted by high reward but diminished by low reward.
Conclusions:
- Reward plays a significant role in modulating the context-sensitivity and scope of cognitive control.
- High reward enhances, while low reward reduces, the ability of cognitive control to adapt to changing contextual information.
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