Lose-Shift Responding in Humans Is Promoted by Increased Cognitive Load

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Behavioral Economics
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Animals often switch choices after negative outcomes, a behavior termed 'lose-shift'.
• The underlying memory mechanisms supporting this strategy in humans are not fully understood.
• Executive functions are crucial for adaptive decision-making and suppressing impulsive behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of memory and executive control in human lose-shift responding.
• To determine if cognitive load or developmental stage influences the prevalence of lose-shift behavior.
• To explore lose-shift responding as a potential behavioral assay for executive function.

Main Methods:

• A binary choice task was employed where random responding was optimal.
• Cognitive load was manipulated in adults by adding a secondary task.
• Lose-shift responding was compared between adults under normal and high cognitive load, and across different age groups of children (5-9 and 11-13 years old).

Main Results:

• Adults under high cognitive load exhibited a 30-40% increase in lose-shift responding compared to those with normal load.
• Lose-shift responding persisted in cognitively loaded adults, decreasing only with increased time between reinforcement and choice.
• Children aged 5-9 years showed similar lose-shift rates to cognitively loaded adults, an effect absent in older children (11-13 years).

Conclusions:

• Lose-shift responding appears to be a default, reflexive mammalian strategy, possibly driven by a decaying memory trace.
• Executive systems normally suppress lose-shift behavior, but this suppression is reduced by cognitive load or developmental immaturity.
• Lose-shift responding can serve as a sensitive, objective measure of executive function in humans.