Disentangling negative reinforcement, working memory, and deductive reasoning deficits in elevated BMI.

Neuropsychological data suggest that being overweight or obese is associated with a tendency to perseverate behavior despite negative feedback. This deficit might be observed due to other cognitive factors, such as working memory (WM) deficits or decreased ability to deduce model-based strategies when learning by trial-and-error. In the present study, a group of subjects with overweight or obesity (Ow/Ob, n = 30) was compared to normal-weight individuals (n = 42) in a modified Reinforcement Learning (RL) task.

Switching to online: Testing the validity of supervised remote testing for online reinforcement learning experiments.

Online experiments are an alternative for researchers interested in conducting behavioral research outside the laboratory. However, an online assessment might become a challenge when long and complex experiments need to be conducted in a specific order or with supervision from a researcher. The aim of this study was to test the computational validity and the feasibility of a remote and synchronous reinforcement learning (RL) experiment conducted during the social-distancing measures imposed by the pandemic.

Statistical process control charts for better analysis of sequential data in psychology: The case of illusion of control experiments.

Illusion of control (IOC) is a bias in the judgment of personal success with implications to learning theories and health policies; some important questions in the investigation of IOC may be related to traditional measures in the field, namely self-assessment using Likert scales about the sense of control. Statistical process control (SPC) and Shewhart charts are methods developed to monitor and control industrial processes, never applied in psychological studies before. The present two studies investigated the use of the technique of Shewhart charts in the analysis of IOC.

Persistence of repeated self-reported illusion of control as a product of action and outcome association in productive and preventive scenarios.

Individuals interpret themselves as causal agents when executing an action to achieve an outcome, even when action and outcome are independent. How can illusion of control be managed? Once established, does it decay? This study aimed to analyze the effects of valence, probability of the outcome [p(O)] and probability of the actions performed by the participant [p(A)], on the magnitude of judgments of control and corresponding associative measures (including Rescorla-Wagner's, Probabilistic Contrast, and Cheng's Power Probabilistic Contrast models). A traffic light was presented on a computer screen to 81 participants who tried to control the green or red lights by pressing the spacebar, after instructions describing a productive or a preventive scenario.