Individual differences in learning from probabilistic reward and punishment predicts smoking status.

Introduction: The ability to update reward and punishment contingencies is a fundamental aspect of effective decision-making, requiring the ability to successfully adapt to the changing demands of one's environment. In the case of nicotine addiction, research has predominantly focused on reward- and punishment-based learning processes among current smokers relative to non-smokers, whereas less is known about these processes in former smokers.

Methods: In a total sample of 105 students, we used the Probabilistic Selection Task to examine differences in reinforcement learning among 41 current smokers, 29 ex-smokers, and 35 non-smokers.