Effect of reward and punishment on motor learning by chronic schizophrenics and normals

Abstract

PROBLEM Implicit in much of the recent psychological research on schizophrenia is the assumption that a motivational deficit underlies most of the behavior associated with that disorder. Operationally stated, for schizophrenics, reward is relatively ineffective in motivating learning, and punishment eventuates in definite decrement.The available literature, however, does not reveal the clear-cut picture anticipated. While several studies do show performance decrement following punishment or 6 ) .A more consistent picture emerges with respect to 6 ) , but even here there are contrary reportsc7). Indeed, these results merely reflect the inconsistency of the literature dealing with normols' reactions to st2ress(4).This study proposes t o establish a baseline for evaluating the role of reward and punishment in learning by schizophrenics. I n the past, researchers have often used materials with a high degree of verbal involvement in studies of this type which introduces problems of triggering autistic associations among the schizophrenic groups and thus affecting their performance differentially. I n our study, this factor was circumvented by use of a simple task with minimal verbal involvement. METHODSubjects. Three groups of Ss (paranoid schizophrenics, nonparanoid schizophrenics and normals) were compared on their response t o three reinforcement conditions (reward, punishment, control). Each S was assigned t o one of these conditions and served in that condition alone. Five trials on a letter cancellation task were administered. Scores were computed for each trial period. The resulting design is a 3 X 3 X 5 repeated measures plot, with group and reinforcement class representing nested column variables and trials the row variable.Sixty-three nonparanoid schizophrenics were tested, 24 being assigned t o the reward condition, 24 t o the *, 9 ) , others reveal

Psychological deficit in schizophrenia: I. Affect, reinforcement, concept attainment.

“…Shankweiler (1959) reported that like schizophrenics, brain-damaged subjects also improve on a psychomotor task subsequent to failure instructions. Johannsen (1962) had nonparanoid and paranoid schizophrenics and normals cancel the letter f in prose material. At the end of each 2-minute trial subjects were told their performance was good or poor, or they were told nothing.…”

Motivational state, reward value, and Pavlovian cues differentially affect skilled forelimb grasping in rats

“…These characteristics indicate an evolutionary role of motor skill learning in maximizing rewards through faster and more accurate goal-directed movements (Crossman 1958;Shadmehr 2010;Hikosaka et al 2013). Some human studies have shown that rewards can have profound effects on motor skill learning (Johannsen 1962;Sugawara et al 2012;Wulf et al 2014) and performance vigor (Meyniel and Pessiglione 2014), which was even reflected in corticospinal excitability (Klein et al 2012b). …”

Positive and negative reinforcement with short- and long-term hospitalized schizophrenics in a probability learning situation.

“…Other studies resulted in greater responsiveness to praise rather than censure (e.g., Alvarez, 19S7;Garmezy, 19S2;Neiditch, 1963;Webb, 19SS). McCarthy (1964) noted that the difference between the two groups of studies has been related to the number of ways available to 5 to avoid censure, with censure being more effective than praise when every response is reinforced (Atkinson & Robinson, 1961;Johannsen, 1962) and that the difference has also been related to the amount of information given 5 by the censure (O'Brien, 1963). The complexity of !This study is based on a master's thesis submitted to the University of Illinois by the first author and conducted under the direction of the second author.…”