Rumination Derails Reinforcement Learning with Possible Implications for Ineffective Behavior

Resumen

How does rumination affect reinforcement learning—the ubiquitous process by which we adjust behavior after error in order to behave more effectively in the future? In a within-subject design (n=49), we tested whether experimentally induced rumination disrupts reinforcement learning in a multidimensional learning task previously shown to rely on selective attention. Rumination impaired performance, yet unexpectedly this impairment could not be attributed to decreased attentional breadth (quantified using a “decay” parameter in a computational model). Instead, trait rumination (between subjects) was associated with higher decay rates (implying narrower attention), yet not with impaired performance. Our task-performance results accord with the possibility that state rumination promotes stress-generating behavior in part by disrupting reinforcement learning. The trait-rumination finding accords with the predictions of a prominent model of trait rumination (the attentional-scope model). More work is needed to understand the specific mechanisms by which state rumination disrupts reinforcement learning.

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Cómo citar (APA 7)

Hitchcock, P., Forman, E., Rothstein, N., Zhang, F., Kounios, J., Niv, Y., & Sims, C. R. (2021). Rumination Derails Reinforcement Learning with Possible Implications for Ineffective Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026211051324