Computational Modelling of Pavlovian and Instrumental Learning under Stress

Diplôme Master Computational Modelling of Pavlovian and Instrumental Learning under Stress - A Reinforcement Learning Approach eng 2023-08-28 author Tudor Maria-Cristiana 0000-0003-4750-5949 942256 director Pool Eva 699771 Section de psychologie (PSICO) director Sander David 558712 Section de psychologie (PSICO) 52 Background: Pavlovian and Instrumental learning are fundamental in shaping reward-seeking. They compete and interact to guide behaviour. Stress has been observed to impair Instrumental goal-directed behaviour and facilitate habits, relevant for clinical disorders characterised by habit-based compulsive reward-seeking. The impact of stress on the interaction between Pavlovian and Instrumental systems remains poorly understood. Method: To investigate their interaction and whether acute stress moderates it, twenty-eight male participants undergo a Pavlovian-Instrumental conflict task on three consecutive days. Anticipatory gaze direction and gaze dwell time on regions of interest are measured with an eye tracker. Three computational models are simulated and fit to the data, to better understand the dynamics between how the systems learn, as well as investigate possible free parameters differences between the stress and control conditions. Results: Behaviourally, a significant Pavlovian interference on the Instrumental system can be observed (Pavlovian bias), reducing the effectiveness of goal-directed behaviour. Computationally, an integrative model that accounts for both systems as interacting components accounts for the behavioural data best. Extracted free parameters show interesting incipient trends, but are not sufficiently conclusive. Conclusion: This study provides evidence for the Pavlovian system’s role in interfering with Instrumental goal-directed action at both behavioural and computational levels, but future research is needed to assert whether acute stress does indeed have a moderating role in this interference. Pavlovian Conditioning Instrumental Conditioning Reward Learning Computational Modelling Rescorla-Wagner Acute Stress Dewey 616.8 Dewey 150 Maîtrise universitaire en neurosciences 16 Centre interfacultaire de neurosciences 0D9 108 Section de psychologie 71 false 593 Emergence et expression de l'émotion (E3 Lab) 87092205-9ca0-421c-beaf-05cae51fac65 Master thesis Restricted MSc Thesis - Final.pdf 2169868 application/pdf 291770184533d2ee42022cf755aafb74cf9a56e13728936a68bc9facbb612649 restrictedAccess Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire de neurosciences Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation / Section de psychologie

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