Controlled and automatic processes in Pavlovian-instrumental transfer
dc.contributor.supervisor | Mitchell, Christopher | |
dc.contributor.author | Seabrooke, Tina | |
dc.contributor.other | Faculty of Health | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2017-02-21T11:45:15Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
dc.identifier | 10462435 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/8550 | |
dc.description.abstract |
The current research aimed to further current knowledge on the psychological processes that underpin human outcome-selective Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT) effects. PIT reflects the capacity of a Pavlovian stimulus to selectively potentiate an instrumental response that predicts a common rewarding outcome. PIT effects are often suggested to reflect a relatively automatic S-O-R mechanism, where the stimulus activates the sensory properties of the outcome, which then automatically triggers associated instrumental responses. The current research tested this S-O-R account of PIT against a propositional expected utility theory, which suggests that PIT effects reflect verbalizable inferences about the probability and value of each outcome. Chapter 1 reviews the relevant literature. Chapters 2-4 then report 11 experiments that aimed to set the S-O-R and propositional theories against one another. In Chapter 2, two experiments demonstrated that PIT is sensitive to a reversal instruction (Experiment 2), but is robust against a time pressure (Experiment 1) and concurrent load (Experiment 2) manipulation. Chapter 3 details the development of a novel outcome devaluation procedure, and reports four experiments that examined the effect of both outcome devaluation and verbal instructions on PIT. These experiments demonstrated that a typical PIT procedure produces PIT effects that are insensitive to a very strong devaluation manipulation. Furthermore, PIT effects were observed for a devalued outcome even when an S-O-R mechanism was unlikely to control behaviour. Chapter 4 reports five experiments that show that PIT is highly sensitive to outcome devaluation when multiple outcomes and responses are cued on every transfer test trial. Chapter 5 therefore concludes that, on balance, the results provide converging support for the propositional expected utility theory of PIT. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en | |
dc.publisher | University of Plymouth | |
dc.subject.classification | PhD | en_US |
dc.title | Controlled and automatic processes in Pavlovian-instrumental transfer | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | |
plymouth.version | publishable | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.24382/830 | |
dc.rights.embargodate | 2018-02-21T11:45:15Z | |
dc.rights.embargoperiod | 12 months | en_US |
dc.type.qualification | Doctorate | en_US |
rioxxterms.version | NA |
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