Bamberg Christoph, Weigelt Sarah, Hagelweide Klara
Department of Vision, Visual Impairment and Blindness Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.
Department of Psychology Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
NPJ Sci Learn. 2025 May 12;10(1):27. doi: 10.1038/s41539-025-00308-3.
Learning behavioural responses and adapting them based on feedback is crucial from a young age, continuing to develop into young adulthood. This study examines the development trajectory and contributing factors from childhood to adulthood using a reversal learning paradigm. We tested 202 participants aged 10 to 22 in an online study, where they learned and reversed stimulus-outcome associations in a new blocked design paradigm and were assessed for working memory capacity. Results showed that reversal learning performance improved with age, particularly for 10- to 14-year-olds. Flexible responses to negative feedback correlated with better reversal learning. Additionally, pubertal development and working memory were positively associated with reversal learning. These findings align with previous research, highlighting flexible feedback responses as a key factor in reversal learning. As the overall rate of flexible reactions did not change with age, it could support reversal learning independent of age, potentially changing its role during development.
从幼年开始学习行为反应并根据反馈进行调整至关重要，这种学习会持续发展到青年期。本研究使用逆向学习范式考察了从童年到成年的发展轨迹及影响因素。我们在一项在线研究中测试了202名年龄在10至22岁之间的参与者，他们在一种新的分块设计范式中学习并逆转刺激-结果关联，并接受了工作记忆能力评估。结果显示，逆向学习表现随年龄增长而提高，尤其是10至14岁的儿童。对负面反馈的灵活反应与更好的逆向学习相关。此外，青春期发育和工作记忆与逆向学习呈正相关。这些发现与之前的研究一致，强调了灵活的反馈反应是逆向学习的关键因素。由于灵活反应的总体比率不会随年龄变化，它可能支持与年龄无关的逆向学习，可能会改变其在发展过程中的作用。
