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A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
Published on: January 5, 2018
Reward selectively preserves relational structure in memory
1Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, United States of America; Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, United States of America.
Cognition
|August 8, 2026
Summary
Reward influences memory networks by preserving associations, guiding decisions. This effect is strongest when memory or reward links are easily recalled, aiding adaptive choices.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Decision Science
- Memory Research
Background:
- Memory forms networks (cognitive graphs) influencing decisions.
- Reward shapes choices by prioritizing associated items.
- The interaction between reward and cognitive graph structure on decisions is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how reward interacts with cognitive graph structure to influence value-based decisions.
- To determine the conditions under which reward influences memory representations.
- To understand how memory structure supports adaptive decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Participants learned a community-structured cognitive graph.
- Value-based decisions were made in experimental settings.
- Graph reconstruction and reward learning were incorporated in some experiments.
Main Results:
- Reward spread retroactively only when the cognitive graph or reward-item associations were retrievable.
- Reward preserved the relational structure of directly associated items.
- Memory representations were shaped by reward to guide decisions.
Conclusions:
- Reward acts as an organizing principle in memory.
- Selective preservation of associations supports adaptive value-based decisions.
- Retrievability of associations is crucial for reward's influence on memory and decisions.
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