TY - JOUR
T1 - Free operant observing in humans
T2 - A translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking
AU - Morein-Zamir, Sharon
AU - Shahper, Sonia
AU - Fineberg, Naomi
AU - Eisele, Verena
AU - Eagle, Dawn M.
AU - Urcelay, Gonzalo
AU - Robbins, Trevor W.
N1 - © Experimental Psychology Society 2017
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Excessive checking is reported in non-clinical populations and is a pervasive symptom in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We implemented a free-operant task in humans, previously used in rats, wherein participants can “check” to reduce uncertainty. Participants can press an observing key to ascertain which of two main keys will, if pressed, currently lead to rewards. Over a series of experiments, we found that punishment robustly increased observing in non-clinical participants and that observing persisted long after punishment was removed. Moreover, participants appeared insensitive to the initial costs of checking, and a threefold increase in the effort required to observe served to deter participants only to a limited degree. We also assessed observing in OCD patients with no known comorbidities. The patients observed more than control participants and were abnormally insensitive to the introduction of punishment. These findings support the translational value of the task, with similar behaviours in humans and rodents. This paradigm may serve as a unifying platform, promoting interaction between different approaches to analyse adaptive and maladaptive certainty seeking behaviours. Specifically, we demonstrate how seemingly disparate theoretical and empirical approaches can be reconciled synergistically to promote a combined behavioural and cognitive account of certainty seeking.
AB - Excessive checking is reported in non-clinical populations and is a pervasive symptom in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We implemented a free-operant task in humans, previously used in rats, wherein participants can “check” to reduce uncertainty. Participants can press an observing key to ascertain which of two main keys will, if pressed, currently lead to rewards. Over a series of experiments, we found that punishment robustly increased observing in non-clinical participants and that observing persisted long after punishment was removed. Moreover, participants appeared insensitive to the initial costs of checking, and a threefold increase in the effort required to observe served to deter participants only to a limited degree. We also assessed observing in OCD patients with no known comorbidities. The patients observed more than control participants and were abnormally insensitive to the introduction of punishment. These findings support the translational value of the task, with similar behaviours in humans and rodents. This paradigm may serve as a unifying platform, promoting interaction between different approaches to analyse adaptive and maladaptive certainty seeking behaviours. Specifically, we demonstrate how seemingly disparate theoretical and empirical approaches can be reconciled synergistically to promote a combined behavioural and cognitive account of certainty seeking.
KW - Checking
KW - Intolerance of uncertainty
KW - Observing
KW - Obsessive compulsive disorder
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054739532&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1747021817737727
DO - 10.1177/1747021817737727
M3 - Article
C2 - 29359639
AN - SCOPUS:85054739532
SN - 1747-0218
VL - 71
SP - 2052
EP - 2069
JO - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP)
JF - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP)
IS - 10
ER -