Conditioning, reinforcement and implicit learning tasks¶

Contingencies between stimuli, actions and outcomes are learned from experience, with or without explicit instruction; learning curves, choice probabilities and perseveration are the measures.

This family contains 10 tasks.

Artificial Grammar Learning ¶

Exposure to letter strings generated by a finite-state grammar followed by a grammaticality judgment on novel strings; indexes implicit rule learning. Engages 4 processes.

Participants observe cue-outcome pairings across trials and judge the causal strength of the relationship; judgment profiles across contingency conditions index causal induction and associative learning mechanisms. Engages 4 processes.

Instrumental Conditioning ¶

Actions are reinforced by contingent outcomes under defined schedules; response rate and choice probability across schedules index instrumental learning. Specific human instantiations include lever/button-press reward paradigms and free-operant tasks. Engages 5 processes.

Multi-Armed Bandit ¶

Repeated choice among options with unknown or changing reward distributions; choice sequences dissociate exploration from exploitation. Engages 5 processes.

Pavlovian Fear Conditioning ¶

A neutral CS is paired with an aversive US (shock, loud sound); conditioned responses (SCR, startle, amygdala BOLD) index fear learning. Engages 5 processes.

Probabilistic Classification Learning ¶

Multi-cue probabilistic prediction of a binary outcome with trial-by-trial feedback; learning curves index gradual procedural category learning. Engages 5 processes.

Probabilistic Selection ¶

Learn to choose between stimulus pairs through probabilistic feedback, then select among novel recombinations; choose-A vs. avoid-B accuracy dissociates positive and negative reinforcement learning. Engages 5 processes.

Reversal Learning ¶

After initial stimulus-reward learning, the contingencies switch; perseveration and reversal speed index behavioral flexibility. Engages 4 processes.

Serial Reaction Time ¶

Sequential key-press responses to cued locations; RT speedup on repeating vs random sequences indexes implicit sequence learning. Engages 5 processes.

Two-Stage Decision ¶

Sequential two-choice task with probabilistic transitions to second-stage states and drifting rewards; choice patterns dissociate model-based from model-free control. Engages 5 processes.

Marked for review¶

The filing of these tasks is a judgement call; the note says why they are here and where else they could go.

Task	Note
Serial Reaction Time	Implicit sequence learning through key presses; could be filed under motor performance