Hu Ting, Fujimaki Shun, Kawarada Hiroto, Kosaki Yutaka
Department of Psychology, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
Research Institute for Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 2;16:1601901. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1601901. eCollection 2025.
Voluntary behaviors can be either goal-directed, sensitive to changes in their consequences, or habitual, lacking such sensitivity. In this study, we conducted three experiments to investigate how forced-choice training influences goal-directed and habitual processes under varying reinforcement rates. In all experiments, rats received 15 training sessions on a two-component multiple schedule with two sequentially inserted levers. In Experiment 1, identical variable interval (VI) 15-s schedules were used across components for Group Rich and VI 90-s schedules for Group Lean, yielding different behavioral outcomes. Following taste aversion for one outcome, Group Lean reduced performance (i.e., goal-directed action) during an extinction test, while Group Rich did not (i.e., habit). Experiment 2 addressed differential outcome exposure by reversing training conditions: Group Rich received numerous outcomes equivalent to Group Lean in Experiment 1, and vice versa. The devaluation effects were evident in both groups. Using the same outcome across components, Experiment 3 trained rats on a multiple VI 15-s VI 90-s schedule to further clarify the role of response-outcome pairings while controlling for the total amount of outcome exposure. Although the VI 15-s component produced fewer outcomes, it led to stronger devaluation effects and residual responding. The most important finding of this study is that alternating R-O contingencies in a multiple schedule under lean reinforcement conditions consistently sustain goal-directed control even after extensive training, while richer conditions promote a shift to habitual control. These findings are discussed within a dual-system model framework in a molar context, hypothesizing that both goal-directed and habitual strength may grow more rapidly with higher reinforcement rates.
自愿行为可以是目标导向的,对其后果的变化敏感,也可以是习惯性的,缺乏这种敏感性。在本研究中,我们进行了三项实验,以研究在不同强化率下,强制选择训练如何影响目标导向和习惯化过程。在所有实验中,大鼠在一个双成分多重时间表上接受15次训练,该时间表有两个依次插入的杠杆。在实验1中,富强化组的两个成分均采用相同的可变间隔(VI)15秒时间表,贫强化组采用VI 90秒时间表,产生了不同的行为结果。在对一种结果产生味觉厌恶后,贫强化组在消退测试中表现下降(即目标导向行为),而富强化组则没有(即习惯行为)。实验2通过颠倒训练条件来解决不同结果暴露的问题:富强化组接受了与实验1中贫强化组数量相当的多种结果,反之亦然。两组均出现了贬值效应。在实验3中采用各成分相同的结果,让大鼠在VI 15秒-VI 90秒的多重时间表上进行训练,以进一步阐明反应-结果配对的作用,同时控制结果暴露的总量。尽管VI 15秒成分产生的结果较少,但它导致了更强的贬值效应和残留反应。本研究最重要的发现是,在贫强化条件下的多重时间表中交替的反应-结果 contingency 即使在经过广泛训练后也能持续维持目标导向控制,而更丰富的条件则促进向习惯控制的转变。这些发现是在一个整体背景下的双系统模型框架内进行讨论的,假设目标导向和习惯强度可能都随着更高的强化率而增长得更快。