Vicarious reward unblocks associative learning about novel cues in male rats
van Gurp,Sander Hoog,Jochen Kalenscher,Tobias van Wingerden,Marijn
van Gurp,Sander
Hoog,Jochen
Kalenscher,Tobias
van Wingerden,Marijn
Abstract
Many species, including rats, are sensitive to social signals and their valuation is important in social learning. Here we introduce a task that investigates if mutual reward delivery in male rats can drive associative learning. We found that when actor rats have fully learned a stimulus-self-reward association, adding a cue that predicted additional reward to a partner unblocked associative learning about this cue. By contrast, additional cues that did not predict partner reward remained blocked from acquiring positive associative value. Importantly, this social unblocking effect was still present when controlling for secondary reinforcement but absent when social information exchange was impeded, when mutual reward outcomes were disadvantageously unequal to the actor or when the added cue predicted reward delivery to an empty chamber. Taken together, these results suggest that mutual rewards can drive associative learning in rats and is dependent on vicariously experienced social and food-related cues.
Description
Funding Information: Volkswagen Foundation AZ88216 Sander van Gurp Jochen Hoog Marijn van Wingerden The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Date
2020-10-01
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Publisher
Research Projects
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Keywords
BEHAVIOR, DOPAMINE RELEASE, EVOLUTION, MODEL, ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX, PLAY, PREDICTION-ERROR, PROSOCIAL CHOICE, REINFORCEMENT
Citation
van Gurp, S, Hoog, J, Kalenscher, T & van Wingerden, M 2020, 'Vicarious reward unblocks associative learning about novel cues in male rats', Elife, vol. 9, e60755, pp. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.60755