Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 1, 2026

New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat
09:45

New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat

Published on: January 23, 2017

8.6K

Conditioning task switching behavior.

Senne Braem1

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.

Cognition
|June 9, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Adaptive variability in humans, pigeons, and rats.

Psychological review·2026
Same author

Steering through task uncertainty: Evidence for activation modulation over dynamic binding.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same author

Cognitive flexibility versus stability via activation-based and weight-based adaptations.

Communications psychology·2026
Same author

When models matter: Environmental demand guides the arbitration between model-based and model-free control.

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience·2025
Same author

Semantic Anchors Facilitate Task Encoding in Continual Learning.

Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science·2025
Same author

Different exploration strategies along the autism spectrum: diverging effects of autism diagnosis and autism traits.

Molecular autism·2025
Same journal

Evidence for abstract spatial concept learning in young animals.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Blurred lines or clear boundaries? Synchrony and social dominance shape domain-specific self-other processing.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Knowability predicts curiosity and learning.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Throwing good effort after bad: Evidence for a sunk-cost effect in cognitive effort-based decision-making.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Cross-linguistic differences in incremental planning under uncertainty.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Sensory attenuation scales with the strength of action-outcome coupling: A psychophysical study.

Cognition·2026
See all related articles

Reward can shape abstract cognitive control. Studies show that rewarding task switching encourages more frequent switching, while rewarding task repetition improves focus, demonstrating reward

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • Decision Making

Background:

  • Traditional reinforcement learning studies often focus on simple stimulus-response associations.
  • Emerging theories suggest that cognitive control mechanisms, crucial for complex behaviors, also operate under reinforcement principles.
  • Understanding how reward influences abstract cognitive representations is key to a comprehensive theory of learning and behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether reward can reinforce abstract cognitive control representations, specifically task-switching behavior.
  • To examine the impact of differential rewards for task alternations versus repetitions on voluntary task switching.
  • To assess the trade-offs between task switching frequency and task focus under different reward contingencies.

Main Methods:

Keywords:
Cognitive controlReinforcement learningRewardTask switching

More Related Videos

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats
08:30

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

21.7K
T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice
17:45

T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice

Published on: February 26, 2012

40.9K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 1, 2026

New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat
09:45

New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat

Published on: January 23, 2017

8.6K
Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats
08:30

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

21.7K
T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice
17:45

T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice

Published on: February 26, 2012

40.9K
  • A cued task switching paradigm was employed to manipulate reward contingencies.
  • Participants received differential rewards for either alternating or repeating tasks.
  • Subsequent voluntary task switching behavior was measured to assess the effects of prior reward exposure.

Main Results:

  • Individuals rewarded more for task alternations exhibited increased voluntary task switching behavior.
  • Conversely, participants rewarded more for task repetitions demonstrated enhanced task focus, indicated by smaller task-rule congruency effects.
  • These findings suggest that reward learning extends to higher-level cognitive control processes.

Conclusions:

  • Reward signals can effectively reinforce abstract cognitive control representations, influencing future task selection and performance.
  • This study provides evidence that reinforcement learning principles apply beyond simple stimulus-response mappings to complex cognitive strategies.
  • The findings highlight a flexible role of reward in shaping cognitive control, with implications for understanding learning and decision-making.