Gray's reinforcement sensitivity approach

?
  • Created by: NinaaG
  • Created on: 20-12-17 10:38
Explain Gray's background:
He started as a learning theorist looking into rewards and punishments and how they motivate behaviour
1 of 62
From studying rodents, what two human motivations did Gray propose there are?
Approach and reward, and avoid and negative punishment
2 of 62
What three systems made up Gray's theory?
The behavioural inhibition system (BIS), the fight-flight system and the behavioural activation system (BAS)
3 of 62
According to Gray's original model, what is BIS?
He proposed that this system is very sensitive to conditioned punishment stimuli, proposing negative stimuli evoking environments cause anxiety and fear which causes avoidance behaviours
4 of 62
According to Gray's original model, what is the fight-flight system?
He proposed that this was the fear centre (and associated with the amygdala) and related to the avoidance of very negative stimuli. He proposed that this causes avoidance and withdrawal but very quickly
5 of 62
What problems were there with Gray's original proposal of fight-flight?
That it was in reference to unconditioned stimuli
6 of 62
According to Gray's original model, what is BAS?
Moving towards appetitive and reqarding stimuli, approaching stimuli
7 of 62
How does this link with other theories?
It can be linked to E through the sense of seeking new stimulation
8 of 62
What is the BAS system responsive to?
Incentives - these act as rewards and regulates approach
9 of 62
What may the BAS be linked to?
The dopaminergic projection system
10 of 62
What happens to inhibition in BAS?
You lose inhibition and find it more difficult to resist the reward as you get closer to the goal
11 of 62
What is the BIS responsive to?
Punishment - this regulates avoidance behaviours and cues frustration
12 of 62
What may the BIS be linked to?
The septo-hippocampal system (to do with memory)
13 of 62
What happens to inhibition in BIS?
Levels of inhibition are higher as BIS adopts mechanisms of avoidance and are more negative about the outcomes of behaviour
14 of 62
What did Gray argue undermines the P-E-N model?
That Eysenck did not consider the combinations of E and N together, for example those high in N low in E have high anxiety, but Eysenck did not consider introverts to have anxiety - likewise E needs an element of N to be impulsive
15 of 62
If you are high in BIS what characteristics do you have?
High in anxiety, high in N, high in introversion
16 of 62
What characteristics do you have if you are highly impulsive?
High in N and E, high in BAS
17 of 62
What characteristics do you have if you're low in impulsivity?
High in I, high in emotional stability
18 of 62
According to Gray, what traits do you have if you are highly susceptible to reward?
High in E and N
19 of 62
According to Gray, what traits do you have if you are not very susceptible to reward?
High in I and N
20 of 62
According to Gray, what traits do you have if you are highly susceptible to punishment?
High in I an N
21 of 62
According to Gray, what traits do you have if you a not very susceptible to punishment?
High in E and emotional stability
22 of 62
What doesn't Gray's model consider?
The sociability aspect of E - he argues that E is just a sub category of BAS and that it is only the arousal they find rewarding, not the social interaction
23 of 62
What does Gray link impulsivity and anxiety to?
Learning processes of reward and punishment - he argued that our emotions act as internal motivators for behaviour (Mowrer 1960)
24 of 62
Why did Gray have problems with his original model of personality?
Because of the confusion between a conditioned response being produced in response to an unconditioned stimulus. Many debated whether he was talking about UCR (shout in pain) or CR (avoidance)
25 of 62
What methods are used to measure BIS-BAS?
BIS Scale (Carver and White, 1994), Eysenck's N, Trait-Anxiety (Speilberger's), Harm-Avoidance (Cloninger's) and Senisitivity to punishment (Torrubia et al 2001)
26 of 62
What are the two most commonly used measurements?
BIS scale and sensitivity to punishment
27 of 62
What did Fuentes et al 2012 find?
A physiological substrate - BIS sensitivity in reduced volume in OFC (self-guided, inhibition) and percuneus (self-awareness)
28 of 62
What was an interesting finding of Fuentes et al 2012?
There was no link to the amygdala, weird as you would expect to see a link to emotion
29 of 62
What did Canli et al 2001 find?
The extroverts frontal brain activity to pleasurable activity heightened and that introverts frontal brain activity heightened when they were shown threatening images
30 of 62
What does this suggest about Eysenck's model?
That it is linked to reinforcement sensitivity rather than arousal
31 of 62
What did Balconi et al 2002 find?
That those high in BAS showed an increase in ERP to positive pictures and had momentary drop in heart rate (thought to represent preparation to approach), in high BIS - increase in ERP to negative pcitures and increased corrugator (frowning)
32 of 62
What did Whisman et al 2011 find?
That there is a hereditary link - BIS is associated with noradrenergic and serotonergic networks
33 of 62
What did Reuter et al 2006 find?
That the BAS is associated with the dopaminergic system - looked at COMT and DRD2 and found that there is an imbalance between the two in the doapmine system in those high in BAS
34 of 62
How do studies in non-humans support Gray's theory?
Gray's original work (1970) was based with rats, showing that they use different systems when controlling their behavioural reactions to rewarding and punishing stimuli
35 of 62
What studies show cross-cultural evidence?
Avila and Torrubia (2006): found consistency in a Russian sample, Gullo et al (2011): found scale consistency in Australian, Caci et al (2007): Found very good consistency in a french sample
36 of 62
What did Takahashi et al 2007 find?
Tested 448 twins over 2-3 years and found that the levels of BIS/BAS stayed consistent - degree of genetic influence did not change over time
37 of 62
What did Carver and White 1994 find?
That twin studies looking at BIS/BAS had high test-retest reliability over a 8 week period
38 of 62
What did Larson et al 2003 find?
They had two conditions (1: ppts started with $10 and punished; 2: ppts started with $0 and rewarded) - those high in BIS did better in condition 1, those high in BAS did better in condition 2
39 of 62
What did Avila and Torrubia 2006 find?
Conducted a gambling task where cards said 'you win' or 'you lose' and varied in their probability - found those low in BIS made more responses than high in BIS and those high in BAS made more responses than those low in BAS
40 of 62
What did Zinbarg and Mohlman 1998 do?
Showed students cues that either lead to punishment or reward and asked them to work out whether to expect reward/punishment to receive money
41 of 62
What did Zinbarg and Mohlman 1998 find?
Those high in anxiety were better at identifying expectancies for punishments, high in impulsivity and anxiety decreased responses to punishment cue, high impulsivity did not help moderate low anxiety responses to punishment cues
42 of 62
In reference to learning tasks, what did Matthews and Gilliands 1999 say about Gray's model?
That Gray's original theory does not explain UCS and results have been gained using classical conditioning. He also said that learning tasks may not just represent sensitivities but also reflect cognitive ability such as attention
43 of 62
What else did Matthews and Gilliands critique about Gray's theory?
That Gray had not specified the physiological bases (similar to jungle fallacy) and undermined the influence of impulsivity - as this influences anxiety, it suggests that the subsystems approach may not be correct
44 of 62
How did Coor 2001 respond to Matthews and Gilliands?
That inconsistencies may be due to a lack of a single measure (many measure E and N as well) so difficult to operationalise.
45 of 62
What did Coor 2001 say about animal studies?
That they have strong appetitve and punishment schedules and it is likely that there is some crossover in humans and one does not completely inhibit the other as we are social animals.
46 of 62
In Gray and McNaughton's revised RST model (2000), what was the BAS responsible for?
Anticipatory pleasure and optimism, sensitive to conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, vulnerability to addictive behaviours, reduces time and space between current state and reinforcement
47 of 62
In Gray and McNaughton's revised RST model (2000), what is fight/flight/freeze system?
Sensitive to unconditoned and conditioned aversive stimuli, associated with fear and phobias/panic disorders
48 of 62
In Gray and McNaughton's revised RST model (2000), what is BIS responsible for?
It is a resolution of conflict between FFFS and BAS, with the goal being to bring individual into a non-conflict, in this sense it is an alarm system. It is associated with worry and anxiety
49 of 62
What does the revised model allow?
A evolutionary-based distinction between the nature of fear and anxiety
50 of 62
What did Perkins and Coor 2005 say about the revised model?
That FFFS should move away from the threat and that BIS should move towards threat (to be vigilant and assess if it is harmful)
51 of 62
What problems are there with the measurement of the revised RST?
Many researchers tend to use older measures and do not capture the new BIS or FFFS
52 of 62
What were the first two exceptions to this measurement?
Heym, Ferguson and Lawrence (2008) and Jackson (2009)
53 of 62
What did Jackson 2009 do?
He created the Jackson-5, a scale of measurement that assesses FFFS, and BIS and uses the scales as a predictor or delinquency and psychopathy
54 of 62
Evaluate the Jackson-5:
Good use of criteria to validate the scales, using relevant constructs (deliquency), produced scales that measured all aspects of FFFS, however, it lacks face validity because the measurements are not necessarily realistic tasks
55 of 62
What did Heym et al 2008 base their measurement scale on?
Carver and Whites BIS/BAS Scale (1992)
56 of 62
What changes did Heym et al 2008 make related to E?
Future orientated, linked to BAS, not related to fear
57 of 62
What changes did Heym et al 2008 make related to N?
Future orientated, linked to reward-responsiveness, BIS, anxiety and fear but not to fun seeking
58 of 62
What did Heym et al 2008 propose about P?
Focus on the here and now, looking for immediate reward and have no anxiety/fear
59 of 62
Evaluate Heym et al 2008:
Good use of criteria to validate the scales, covers all aspects of BAS (but not FFFS), has good face validity and consistent with theoretical prediction
60 of 62
What did Reuter et al 2015 do?
Created a measurement scale that included BIS, BAS and FFFS
61 of 62
What did Reuter et al find in his study?
That across a large sample in Germany (1814) and UK (299), BIS and BAS had good reliability, but this was reduced for the FFFS scales and found genetic evidence for BIS but not for BAS/FFFS
62 of 62

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

From studying rodents, what two human motivations did Gray propose there are?

Back

Approach and reward, and avoid and negative punishment

Card 3

Front

What three systems made up Gray's theory?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

According to Gray's original model, what is BIS?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

According to Gray's original model, what is the fight-flight system?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

See all Psychology resources »See all Gray's reinforcement sensitivity approach resources »