DFG Research Unit 1581
Project Profile P4
The Role of Attention in Renewal
Renewal refers to the recovery of acquisition performance when contextual cues having been present during extinction are changed. Understanding this phenomenon is important theoretically as well as from a clinical perspective since renewal is accepted as a model for relapse following extinction-based treatments. Current theoretical accounts as well as results from human and non-human studies accentuate the role of attention in the formation of renewal. The aim of our project is to evaluate and further specify the rules and principles by which attentional shifts to contextual stimuli contribute to the development of context-dependent behavior.
To assess the contribution of attentional shifts in the formation of renewal, our experiments are designed to manipulate the amount of attention paid to contextual stimuli present during acquisition or extinction using techniques established in basic associative learning research:
- Expectancy violation experienced in a context
- Informational value provided by a context
In addition, we are interested in the effect of reminder-cues on renewal and spontaneous recovery.
Method
All our experiments implement a predictive learning task being established as a standard procedure in the investigation of human associative learning.
Subjects: Humans
Cooperation within the Research Unit
- Project P1: Using pigeons, they also attempt to manipulate the degree of expectancy violation experienced in a context. Therefore, we will be able to assess the generality of our findings across different species.
- Project P6: They also investigate the role of attention for the formation of renewal effects but using pharmacological manipulations. Here, we have the unique opportunity to compare very different treatments within the same experimental procedure.
- Project P5, P6, P7, P8: Employ also renewal experiments using a predictive learning task.
Contact: In case of any questions regarding P4 please contact Dr. Metin Üngör: uengoer@staff.uni-marburg.de
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