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Related Concept Videos

Reinforcement Schedules01:24

Reinforcement Schedules

322
Positive reinforcement is a powerful method for teaching new behaviors to both animals and humans. B.F. Skinner demonstrated this with his experiments using rats in a Skinner box. When a rat pressed a lever, it received a food pellet. This immediate reward encouraged the rat to repeat the behavior. This method, where a reward follows every instance of the behavior, is known as continuous reinforcement. It is highly effective for establishing new behaviors quickly.
Once a behavior is learned,...
322

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 16, 2025

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents
08:38

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Published on: September 1, 2011

74.8K

No consistent startle modulation by reward.

Iris Schutte1, Johanna M P Baas2, Ivo Heitland2,3

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. iris.schutte2706@gmail.com.

Scientific Reports
|February 24, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Motivational responses to reward feedback are complex. This study used the startle reflex to investigate whether winning or losing rewards is more impactful, finding that missing rewards may elicit stronger reactions than winning them.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Decision Science
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Motivational responses to reward feedback remain unclear, with debate on whether appetitive (gain-seeking) or aversive (loss-avoidance) processes dominate.
  • The startle reflex offers a psychophysiological index to probe the appetitive-aversive continuum during reward processing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether motivational responses to reward feedback are primarily driven by appetitive reactions to gains or aversive reactions to reward omission.
  • To utilize startle reflex modulation to compare the subjective value of monetary rewards of varying magnitudes.

Main Methods:

  • A passive head or tails game was employed to elicit reward feedback (win/loss) or neutral outcomes.
  • Startle reflex magnitudes were measured during anticipation and feedback phases, comparing conditions with and without potential monetary gains.
  • Two experiments were conducted, with the second employing a more targeted approach.

Main Results:

  • Anticipation of reward significantly potentiated startle reflex magnitudes compared to no-reward anticipation, suggesting anticipatory arousal.
  • For the largest reward, startle magnitudes were potentiated when the reward was not won compared to a neutral baseline.
  • Winning a reward did not significantly inhibit startle relative to baseline, suggesting potentiation during omission is a more prominent effect.
  • Crucially, these findings were not replicated in the second experiment, indicating sensitivity to experimental parameters.

Conclusions:

  • Startle reflex modulation during reward feedback appears more characterized by potentiation associated with reward omission than inhibition from winning.
  • The discrepancy between experiments highlights the sensitivity of reward processing and motivation to subtle changes in experimental design and participant engagement.
  • Further research is needed to clarify the role of aversive consequences of reward omission in startle reflex modulation, particularly for larger rewards.