Shifting behavior: an analysis of response patterns of Parkinson patients in discrimination learning

Parkinson patients often show decreased performance on what is generally referred to as "shift tasks." This does not necessarily imply that Parkinson patients have problems with shifting, since task performance reflects not only shifting but also other factors. Using a discrimination learning task, we analyzed response patterns to determine the decision rules used. As well, we varied the manner of problem alternation (implicit versus explicit) and the type of problem alternation (extradimensional versus intradimensional shifts). In accordance with the literature, we found that Parkinson patients needed more trials to solve the problems. However, the response patterns of the Parkinson patients and controls were practically the same. An important finding was that Parkinson patients did not hold on longer to a rule, which was correct in a former problem, than controls did. Therefore, we concluded that Parkinson patients are able to shift from one decision rule to another.