Reward and Punishment Learning in Conduct Disorder
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Psychology
Abstract
Youth antisocial behaviour is a serious and costly problem for families, schools and society. There are numerous reasons why youths become involved in antisocial behaviour, ranging from social influences (e.g., antisocial peers) to personality traits (e.g., lack of empathy and concern for others). Recent advances in data science can help us to understand how these factors influence antisocial behaviour in individual youths, which is important for developing therapeutic interventions that are tailored to the unique circumstances of each youth.
During this fellowship, I will apply an advanced modelling technique to a large dataset of youths from across Europe. The aim is to better understand how the ability to learn from reward and punishment is linked to different types of antisocial behaviour. Based on previous research, I predict that antisocial youths will learn more slowly from punishment than will typically developing youths. In addition, a callous-unemotional style of antisocial behaviour (e.g., unprovoked, armed robbery) will be associated with faster reward learning rates, and low anxiety (fearlessness) will be linked to slower punishment learning.
Previous studies of reward and punishment learning in antisocial youths have typically measured the number of mistakes made on a learning test - for example, the number of times a youth engaged in a behaviour that resulted in punishment. However, these measures do not tell us how well youths learn, or adapt their future behaviour, in response to a reward or punishment. Advanced modelling techniques allow us to calculate learning rates for individual youths, which is a much more precise measure of reward and punishment learning than the total number of mistakes made.
I will also investigate how these differences in learning style relate to differences in connectivity between the brain regions involved in reward and punishment learning. I predict that callous-unemotional traits will be associated with reduced connectivity in circuits related to punishment learning and inhibition of potentially rewarding behaviour, (i.e., poorer self-regulation) while anxiety will be associated with increased connectivity in these circuits (i.e., better self-regulation). In addressing these questions, the proposed research will improve our understanding of the cognitive, emotional and neurobiological bases of antisocial behaviour in different youths.
During this fellowship, I will apply an advanced modelling technique to a large dataset of youths from across Europe. The aim is to better understand how the ability to learn from reward and punishment is linked to different types of antisocial behaviour. Based on previous research, I predict that antisocial youths will learn more slowly from punishment than will typically developing youths. In addition, a callous-unemotional style of antisocial behaviour (e.g., unprovoked, armed robbery) will be associated with faster reward learning rates, and low anxiety (fearlessness) will be linked to slower punishment learning.
Previous studies of reward and punishment learning in antisocial youths have typically measured the number of mistakes made on a learning test - for example, the number of times a youth engaged in a behaviour that resulted in punishment. However, these measures do not tell us how well youths learn, or adapt their future behaviour, in response to a reward or punishment. Advanced modelling techniques allow us to calculate learning rates for individual youths, which is a much more precise measure of reward and punishment learning than the total number of mistakes made.
I will also investigate how these differences in learning style relate to differences in connectivity between the brain regions involved in reward and punishment learning. I predict that callous-unemotional traits will be associated with reduced connectivity in circuits related to punishment learning and inhibition of potentially rewarding behaviour, (i.e., poorer self-regulation) while anxiety will be associated with increased connectivity in these circuits (i.e., better self-regulation). In addressing these questions, the proposed research will improve our understanding of the cognitive, emotional and neurobiological bases of antisocial behaviour in different youths.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Ruth Pauli (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Pauli R
(2023)
The computational psychiatry of antisocial behaviour and psychopathy.
in Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
| Description | We investigated reward and punishment learning in adolescents aged 9-18 years, recruited from across Europe. Using advanced computational modeling techniques, we showed that the ability to learn from punishment improves with age, while reward learning remains stable. However, action initiation biases (the impulsive tendency to initiate actions regardless of outcome) also declined during the same period. Overall, older adolescents were better able to refrain from impulsive actions and use past experience of punishment, but not reward, to guide future behaviour. These findings show that apparently reward-oriented behaviour during adolescence might sometimes be better explained by impulsive action initiation biases rather than reward-related processes per se. |
| Exploitation Route | The mentor (PL) has used these findings in subsequent successful grant applications. The PI (RP) has established collaborations with colleagues in Germany using the modelling skills acquired during this fellowship. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Other |