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Related Concept Videos

Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Purposive Learning01:22

Purposive Learning

E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a bonus...
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder01:28

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent obsessions, compulsions, or both, which consume significant time and interfere with daily functioning. Obsessions involve persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that evoke anxiety. Common examples include irrational fears of contamination or harm. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed to reduce the anxiety caused by obsessions. For instance, individuals...
Operant Conditioning Intervention01:24

Operant Conditioning Intervention

Operant conditioning serves as a foundational principle in therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying maladaptive behaviors. Central to this approach is the notion that behaviors, both adaptive and maladaptive, are learned through reinforcement. By analyzing the environmental factors that reinforce problematic behaviors, clinicians can design interventions to weaken these reinforcements and replace maladaptive behaviors with healthier alternatives.
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
Modeling in Therapy01:26

Modeling in Therapy

Modeling, a key technique in therapy, uses observational learning to help clients acquire and practice new skills by watching therapists demonstrate desired behaviors. This approach, rooted in Albert Bandura's concept of vicarious learning, plays a significant role in therapeutic interventions for various psychological conditions, including social anxiety, ADHD, and depression.
Participant Modeling
Participant modeling involves therapists demonstrating calm and effective behaviors in situations...
Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive01:24

Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive

Dependent personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are two separate psychological conditions that influence behavior, relationships, and overall life functioning. Though both involve maladaptive behaviors, their core characteristics and motivations differ significantly.
 Dependent Personality Disorder
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
06:45

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Published on: April 18, 2017

Impaired Goal-Directed Planning in Transdiagnostic Compulsivity Is Explained by Uncertainty About Learned Task

Sirichat Sookud1, Ingrid Martin2, Claire M Gillan3

  • 1Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.

Biological Psychiatry. Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
|October 19, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Individuals with higher compulsivity exhibit impaired goal-directed decision-making due to uncertainty in their internal world models. This uncertainty, linked to compulsive symptoms, may represent a trait-level vulnerability.

Keywords:
CompulsivityComputational modelingDecision makingHabitsLearningUncertainty

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Computational Psychiatry

Background:

  • Compulsivity is characterized by reduced goal-directed decision-making and increased habitual behaviors.
  • The underlying cause of this impairment in internal world modeling remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if uncertainty in internal world models contributes to impaired goal-directed decision-making in compulsivity.
  • To characterize how individuals build internal models and quantify individual differences.

Main Methods:

  • Adapted a gamified decision-making task to assess internal model formation.
  • Employed computational modeling to analyze behavior and individual differences.
  • Collected data from two large samples (N=551, N=1322) and longitudinal data (2 weeks, 3 months, 1 year).

Main Results:

  • Higher compulsivity and intrusive thoughts correlated with slower learning and less certain environmental representations.
  • Uncertainty in the internal model mediated the relationship between compulsive symptoms and reduced goal-directed behavior.
  • Decision-making behavior showed relative stability over 3 months and 1 year.

Conclusions:

  • Reduced goal-directed behavior in compulsivity stems from less certain internal world models.
  • This uncertainty may represent a stable, trait-level vulnerability for compulsive symptoms.