Bayesian analysis for quantification of individual rat and human behavioural patterns during attentional set-shifting tasks
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Attentional set-shifting tasks, consisting of multiple stages of discrimination learning, \nhave been widely used in animals and humans to investigate behavioural flexibility. \nHowever, there are several learning criteria (e.g., 6-correct-choice-in-a-row, or 10-out- \nof-12-correct) by which a subject might be judged to have learned a discrimination. \nFurthermore, the currently frequentist approach does not provide a detailed analysis of \nindividual performance. In this PhD study, a large set of archival data of rats \nperforming a 7-stage intra-dimensional/extra-dimensional (ID/ED) attentional set- \nshifting task was analysed, using a novel Bayesian analytical approach, to estimate \neach rat’s learning processes over its trials within the task. The analysis showed that \nthe Bayesian learning criterion may be an appropriate alternative to the frequentist n- \ncorrect-in-a-row criterion for studying performance. The individual analysis of rats’ \nbehaviour using the Bayesian model also suggested that the rats responded according \nto a number of irrelevant spatial and perceptual information sources before the correct \nstimulus-reward association was established. The efficacy of the Bayesian analysis of \nindividual subjects’ behaviour and the appropriateness of the Bayesian learning \ncriterion were also supported by the analysis of simulated data in which the \nbehavioural choices in the task were generated by known rules. Additionally, the \nefficacy was also supported by analysis of human behaviour during an analogous \nhuman 7-stage attentional set-shifting task, where participants’ detailed learning \nprocesses were collected based on their trial-by-trial oral report. Further, an extended \nBayesian approach, which considers the effects of feedback (correct vs incorrect) after \neach response in the task, can even help infer whether individual human participants \nhave formed an attentional set, which is crucial when applying the set-shifting task to \nan evaluation of cognitive flexibility. Overall, this study demonstrates that the \nBayesian approach can yield additional information not available to the conventional \nfrequentist approach. Future work could include refining the rat Bayesian model and \nthe development of an adaptive trial design.
Author: Jiachao Wang
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2894669274