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A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
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Reward prediction errors drive declarative learning irrespective of agency
Kate Ergo1, Luna De Vilder2, Esther De Loof2
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium. kate.ergo@ugent.be.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|June 16, 2021
Summary
Reward prediction errors (RPEs) enhance declarative learning. This study shows that RPEs drive learning regardless of whether they stem from a participant's own actions or external sources.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Learning and Memory
Background:
- Reward prediction errors (RPEs) are increasingly studied for their role in declarative learning.
- Positive RPEs are known to enhance declarative learning in various experimental setups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if RPEs must originate from a participant's own response to drive declarative learning.
- To investigate whether any RPE, regardless of its source, is sufficient for declarative learning.
Main Methods:
- An experimental paradigm was designed to generate RPEs.
- The paradigm included both agency (participant's own response) and non-agency (external source) conditions.
- The interaction between RPEs and agency was analyzed.
Main Results:
- No significant interaction was found between RPEs and agency.
- The results indicate that RPEs drive declarative learning irrespective of their origin.
Conclusions:
- Declarative learning can be driven by RPEs regardless of whether they are self-generated or externally derived.
- This finding has significant implications for existing theories of declarative learning.
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