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Evolutionary Psychology : An... Mar 2017Whereas women of all ages prefer slightly older sexual partners, men-regardless of their age-have a preference for women in their 20s. Earlier research has suggested...
Whereas women of all ages prefer slightly older sexual partners, men-regardless of their age-have a preference for women in their 20s. Earlier research has suggested that this difference between the sexes' age preferences is resolved according to women's preferences. This research has not, however, sufficiently considered that the age range of considered partners might change over the life span. Here we investigated the age limits (youngest and oldest) of considered and actual sex partners in a population-based sample of 2,655 adults (aged 18-50 years). Over the investigated age span, women reported a narrower age range than men and women tended to prefer slightly older men. We also show that men's age range widens as they get older: While they continue to consider sex with young women, men also consider sex with women their own age or older. Contrary to earlier suggestions, men's sexual activity thus reflects also their own age range, although their potential interest in younger women is not likely converted into sexual activity. Compared to homosexual men, bisexual and heterosexual men were more unlikely to convert young preferences into actual behavior, supporting female-choice theory.
Topics: Adolescent; Age Factors; Choice Behavior; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Partners; Young Adult
PubMed: 28127998
DOI: 10.1177/1474704917690401 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Sep 2016This paper offers an active inference account of choice behaviour and learning. It focuses on the distinction between goal-directed and habitual behaviour and how they... (Review)
Review
This paper offers an active inference account of choice behaviour and learning. It focuses on the distinction between goal-directed and habitual behaviour and how they contextualise each other. We show that habits emerge naturally (and autodidactically) from sequential policy optimisation when agents are equipped with state-action policies. In active inference, behaviour has explorative (epistemic) and exploitative (pragmatic) aspects that are sensitive to ambiguity and risk respectively, where epistemic (ambiguity-resolving) behaviour enables pragmatic (reward-seeking) behaviour and the subsequent emergence of habits. Although goal-directed and habitual policies are usually associated with model-based and model-free schemes, we find the more important distinction is between belief-free and belief-based schemes. The underlying (variational) belief updating provides a comprehensive (if metaphorical) process theory for several phenomena, including the transfer of dopamine responses, reversal learning, habit formation and devaluation. Finally, we show that active inference reduces to a classical (Bellman) scheme, in the absence of ambiguity.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Dopamine; Habits; Learning; Reward
PubMed: 27375276
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.06.022 -
Neuro Endocrinology Letters 2011Suicidal behavior is a leading cause of injury and death worldwide. Suicide has been associated with psychiatric illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia, as well... (Review)
Review
Suicidal behavior is a leading cause of injury and death worldwide. Suicide has been associated with psychiatric illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia, as well as economic uncertainty, and social/cultural factors. This study proposes a neuroeconomic framework of suicide. Neuroeconomic parameters (e.g., risk-attitude, probability weighting, time discounting in intertemporal choice, and loss aversion) are predicted to be related to suicidal behavior. Neurobiological and neuroendocrinological substrates such as serotonin, dopamine, cortisol (HPA axis), nitric oxide, serum cholesterol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, gonadal hormones (e.g., estradiol and progesterone), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in brain regiouns such as the orbitofrontal/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and limbic regions (e.g., the amygdala) may supposedly be related to the neuroeconomic parameters modulating the risk of suicide. The present framework puts foundations for "molecular neuroeconomics" of decision-making processes underlying suicidal behavior.
Topics: Brain Chemistry; Choice Behavior; Humans; Mental Disorders; Models, Psychological; Suicide
PubMed: 21876494
DOI: No ID Found -
Neuron May 2022Logistic regressions were developed in economics to model individual choice behavior. In recent years, they have become an important tool in decision neuroscience. Here,... (Review)
Review
Logistic regressions were developed in economics to model individual choice behavior. In recent years, they have become an important tool in decision neuroscience. Here, I describe and discuss different logistic models, emphasizing the underlying assumptions and possible interpretations. Logistic models may be used to quantify a variety of behavioral traits, including the relative subjective value of different goods, the choice accuracy, risk attitudes, and choice biases. More complex logistic models can be used for choices between good bundles, in cases of nonlinear value functions, and for choices between multiple options. Finally, logistic models can quantify the explanatory power of neuronal activity on choices, thus providing a valid alternative to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Decision Making; Neurons; Neurosciences
PubMed: 35334232
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.03.002 -
Learning & Behavior Dec 2023The present study evaluated the role of inhibition in paradoxical choice in pigeons. In a paradoxical choice procedure, pigeons receive a choice between two...
The present study evaluated the role of inhibition in paradoxical choice in pigeons. In a paradoxical choice procedure, pigeons receive a choice between two alternatives. Choosing the "suboptimal" alternative is followed 20% of the time by one cue (the S+) that is always reinforced, and 80% of the time by another cue (S-) that is never reinforced. Thus, this alternative leads to an overall reinforcement rate of 20%. Choosing the "optimal" alternative, however, is followed by one of two cues (S3 or S4), each reinforced 50% of the time. Thus, this alternative leads to an overall reinforcement rate of 50%. González and Blaisdell (2021) reported that development of paradoxical choice was positively correlated to the development of inhibition to the S- (signal that no food will be delivered on that trial) post-choice stimulus. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that inhibition to a post-choice stimulus is causally related to suboptimal preference. Following acquisition of suboptimal preference, pigeons received two manipulations: in one condition one of the cues in the optimal alternative (S4) was extinguished and, in another condition, the S- cue was partially reinforced. When tested on the choice task afterward, both manipulations resulted in a decrement in suboptimal preference. This result is paradoxical given that both manipulations made the suboptimal alternative the richer option. We discuss the implications of our results, arguing that inhibition of a post-choice cue increases attraction to or value of that choice.
Topics: Animals; Reinforcement Schedule; Choice Behavior; Reinforcement, Psychology; Inhibition, Psychological; Cues; Columbidae
PubMed: 37145372
DOI: 10.3758/s13420-023-00584-2 -
Behavioural Processes Jun 2016Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed... (Review)
Review
Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments.
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Delay Discounting; Humans; Reinforcement, Psychology; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 27083500
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.04.001 -
Behavioural Processes Aug 2017Resurgence is typically defined as an increase in a previously extinguished target behavior when a more recently reinforced alternative behavior is later extinguished.... (Review)
Review
Resurgence is typically defined as an increase in a previously extinguished target behavior when a more recently reinforced alternative behavior is later extinguished. Some treatments of the phenomenon have suggested that it might also extend to circumstances where either the historic or more recently reinforced behavior is reduced by other non-extinction related means (e.g., punishment, decreases in reinforcement rate, satiation, etc.). Here we present a theory of resurgence suggesting that the phenomenon results from the same basic processes governing choice. In its most general form, the theory suggests that resurgence results from changes in the allocation of target behavior driven by changes in the values of the target and alternative options across time. Specifically, resurgence occurs when there is an increase in the relative value of an historically effective target option as a result of a subsequent devaluation of a more recently effective alternative option. We develop a more specific quantitative model of how extinction of the target and alternative responses in a typical resurgence paradigm might produce such changes in relative value across time using a temporal weighting rule. The example model does a good job in accounting for the effects of reinforcement rate and related manipulations on resurgence in simple schedules where Behavioral Momentum Theory has failed. We also discuss how the general theory might be extended to other parameters of reinforcement (e.g., magnitude, quality), other means to suppress target or alternative behavior (e.g., satiation, punishment, differential reinforcement of other behavior), and other factors (e.g., non- contingent versus contingent alternative reinforcement, serial alternative reinforcement, and multiple schedules).
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Conditioning, Operant; Extinction, Psychological; Models, Psychological; Reinforcement Schedule; Reinforcement, Psychology
PubMed: 27794452
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.10.006 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Aug 2022For the past half-century, cognitive and social scientists have struggled with the irrationalities of human choice behavior; people consistently make choices that are... (Review)
Review
For the past half-century, cognitive and social scientists have struggled with the irrationalities of human choice behavior; people consistently make choices that are logically inconsistent. Is human choice behavior evolutionarily adaptive or is it an inefficient patchwork of competing mechanisms? In this review, I present an interdisciplinary synthesis arguing for a novel interpretation: choice is efficiently irrational. Connecting findings across disciplines suggests that observed choice behavior reflects a precise optimization of the trade-off between the costs of increasing the precision of the choice mechanism and the declining benefits that come as precision increases. Under these constraints, a rationally imprecise strategy emerges that works toward optimal efficiency rather than toward optimal rationality. This approach rationalizes many of the puzzling inconsistencies of human choice behavior, explaining why these inconsistencies arise as an optimizing solution in biological choosers.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Cognition; Decision Making; Humans
PubMed: 35643845
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.007 -
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of... Jan 2016Pigeons and other animals sometimes deviate from optimal choice behavior when given informative signals for delayed outcomes. For example, when pigeons are given a... (Review)
Review
Pigeons and other animals sometimes deviate from optimal choice behavior when given informative signals for delayed outcomes. For example, when pigeons are given a choice between an alternative that always leads to food after a delay and an alternative that leads to food only half of the time after a delay, preference changes dramatically depending on whether the stimuli during the delays are correlated with (signal) the outcomes or not. With signaled outcomes, pigeons show a much greater preference for the suboptimal alternative than with unsignaled outcomes. Key variables and research findings related to this phenomenon are reviewed, including the effects of durations of the choice and delay periods, probability of reinforcement, and gaps in the signal. We interpret the available evidence as reflecting a preference induced by signals for good news in a context of uncertainty. Other explanations are briefly summarized and compared.
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Columbidae; Delay Discounting; Psychological Trauma; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward; Time Factors
PubMed: 26781050
DOI: 10.1002/jeab.192 -
Frontiers in Neural Circuits 2013Animals including humans engage in goal-directed behavior flexibly in response to items and their background, which is called contextual behavior in this review.... (Review)
Review
Animals including humans engage in goal-directed behavior flexibly in response to items and their background, which is called contextual behavior in this review. Although the concept of context has long been studied, there are differences among researchers in defining and experimenting with the concept. The current review aims to provide a categorical framework within which not only the neural mechanisms of contextual information processing but also the contextual behavior can be studied in more concrete ways. For this purpose, we categorize contextual behavior into three subcategories as follows by considering the types of interactions among context, item, and response: contextual response selection, contextual item selection, and contextual item-response selection. Contextual response selection refers to the animal emitting different types of responses to the same item depending on the context in the background. Contextual item selection occurs when there are multiple items that need to be chosen in a contextual manner. Finally, when multiple items and multiple contexts are involved, contextual item-response selection takes place whereby the animal either chooses an item or inhibits such a response depending on item-context paired association. The literature suggests that the rhinal cortical regions and the hippocampal formation play key roles in mnemonically categorizing and recognizing contextual representations and the associated items. In addition, it appears that the fronto-striatal cortical loops in connection with the contextual information-processing areas critically control the flexible deployment of adaptive action sets and motor responses for maximizing goals. We suggest that contextual information processing should be investigated in experimental settings where contextual stimuli and resulting behaviors are clearly defined and measurable, considering the dynamic top-down and bottom-up interactions among the neural systems for contextual behavior.
Topics: Animals; Cerebral Cortex; Choice Behavior; Hippocampus; Humans; Nerve Net; Recognition, Psychology
PubMed: 23675321
DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2013.00084