A two-step task commonly used to study people's decision-making behaviors does not appear to be effective for training people to rely more on goal-oriented behaviors and less on habitual behaviors. Researchers present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.
Some psychiatric disorders, such as addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder, heavily rely on habitual behaviors at the expense of goal-oriented behaviors. Many studies have used a two-step experimental approach to investigate these behaviors. In the new study, the authors tested whether the two-step task could also be used to train people to engage in more goal-oriented strategies. Such a training would be beneficial for the above-mentioned psychiatric disorders to reduce habitual behaviors and enhance goal-directed decisions.
The researchers recruited 33 healthy participants who each completed 1005 trials of the two-step task over five weeks. In the first step of each trial, the participant chose between two different shapes on a computer screen. That choice was associated with a probability that influenced whether one or another of two new pairs of shapes now appeared. The participant then chose a shape from the second pair and received a small monetary reward or not, depending on their choice.
As usual for the two-step task, the participants showed a mix of goal-directed versus habitual behaviors in making their choices. However, analysis of their choices across five weeks of intensive training suggests that the training had no effect on goal-directed or habitual behavior, nor on the balance between the two. Neuroimaging of brain circuits thought to underlie these behaviors supported these findings, showing that the training did not affect brain activity.
"Our findings suggest that the two-step task in its current form has methodological drawbacks which are not suitable for training purposes," says the senior author of the study. This result was observed in healthy people and may be different under psychiatric conditions.
The authors suggest that future work could focus on developing a more sophisticated version of the two-step task that could be used for psychiatric patients to train goal-directed behaviors while reducing habitual behavior.
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007443
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fno-substantial-change&filter=22
Two-step task for studying decision-making is ineffective for training better behavior
- 1,407 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
How protein synthesis in de…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Atlas of mRNA variants in d…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Mapping microbiome in metas…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Full-length mRNA packaged i…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Glucose-sensing mechanism t…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Apr
Other Top Stories
Epigenetic modulation using CRISPR/Cas9
Read more
Manipulating synaptic plasticity!
Read more
CellChat to analyze and infer cell-cell communications
Read more
Mechanism of membrane-tethered mitochondrial protein synthesis
Read more
Neuromodulation of the cerebellum restores movement in ataxia
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Neuronal activity rapidly r…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
A perspective on muscle phe…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Foxp1 suppresses cortical a…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Single-cell long-read seque…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Unlocking potential: the ro…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar