Psychology & Neuroscience, Vol 17(4), Dec 2024, 314-325; doi:10.1037/pne0000346Objective: During Pavlovian conditioning, some individuals, exhibit goal tracking behavior (GT), they are attracted to the location where an unconditional stimulus (the reward) is to be delivered, while others, exhibit sign tracking behavior (ST), they are attracted to the location of the conditioned stimulus (CS). The last phenotype, who are not clearly drawn to the unconditional stimulus or CS, is called the intermediate. The incentive value given to the CS leads ST to move toward and interact with the lever, even if this latter is not connected to food delivery. The STs’ attraction in the CS can be explained in part by the motivation and attention given to the CS. This study examines the attentional capacity and motivation of sign-tracker and goal-tracker rats during the sustained attention task (SAT). Method: Long-Evans rats were first classified using a Pavlovian conditional approach test to determine individual approach styles (GT, ST). For their attention and motivation to be assessed, animals were subjected to the SAT. Results: We found that, compared to GTs, STs had higher attentional scores during the SAT, missed fewer trials, and took less time to collect the reward. Conclusion: The present measures of motivation and attention show that motivation exerts more influence on ST and GT behavior than attention. Further, the ambiguity of omission was set as a measure of motivation and was not related to attention. Our results suggest that the motivational value ascribed to the CS caused STs to pay attention to the CS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
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This post is Copyright: | August 15, 2024