Emotions and individual differences shape human foraging under threat

Area of Science:

• Behavioral neuroscience
• Cognitive psychology
• Human-computer interaction

Background:

• Foraging for rewards in natural environments often occurs with predator presence.
• Balancing reward pursuit and threat avoidance is a fundamental adaptive behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing the balance between reward-seeking and threat-avoidance behaviors.
• To develop an ecologically inspired task to assess this balance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an ecologically inspired task in two large internet samples (N=374, N=702).
• Examined within-participant dynamics (moods) and between-participant individual differences (questionnaires).
• Employed a cross-sectional design to analyze behavioral regulation and trait influences.

Main Results:

• Individuals regulate task-evoked stress through behavioral changes (increased foraging and hiding).
• Apathy improved performance by reducing excessive checking, while somatic anxiety and compulsivity were linked to maladaptive checking.
• Gender differences observed, with women exhibiting excessive checking.

Conclusions:

• The developed task serves as a multifaceted paradigm for assessing threat-checking behavior.
• The paradigm is sensitive to dynamic mood states and stable clinical dimensions.
• It offers a potential objective measurement tool for future clinical studies on threat, vigilance, and behavior-emotion interactions.