2020 |
Pärnamets, P; Espinosa, L; Olsson, A Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020, ISSN: 1471-2954. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Empathy, Fear, Observational learning, Social learning, Synchrony, Threat @article{P\"{a}rnamets2020, title = {Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans}, author = {P P\"{a}rnamets and L Espinosa and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2019.2779}, issn = {1471-2954}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-25}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B}, abstract = {Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations.}, keywords = {Empathy, Fear, Observational learning, Social learning, Synchrony, Threat}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations. |
2019 |
Selbing, I; Olsson, A Anxious behaviour in a demonstrator affects observational learning Journal Article Scientific Reports, 9 , pp. 9181, 2019. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anxiety, Observational learning @article{Selbing2019, title = {Anxious behaviour in a demonstrator affects observational learning}, author = {I Selbing and A Olsson}, url = {www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45613-1}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-24}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {9}, pages = {9181}, abstract = {Humans can acquire fear through the observation of others’ (learning models’) threat responses. These responses can be direct responses to aversive stimuli, or anticipatory responses to threats. Most research focuses on learning from observation of direct responses only. Here, we investigated how observational fear conditioning is influenced by a learning model’s typically anxious anticipatory responses. High anxiety individuals often display typically anxious anticipatory behaviour, such as worsened discrimination between safe and unsafe stimuli, characterized by increased threat responses to safe stimuli. We hypothesized that observation of an anxiously behaving model would worsen discriminatory learning. To this end, we developed an observational conditioning paradigm where a learning model was exposed to one safe and one unsafe stimuli. The learning model displayed anticipatory aversion to either to the unsafe stimulus only (Non-Anxious Model group) or to both the safe and unsafe stimuli (Anxious Model group) in addition to reacting directly to an aversive stimulus paired with the unsafe stimulus. Contrary to expectations, discriminatory learning was not worsened in the Anxious Model group compared to the Non-Anxious Model group. Rather, we saw more robust discriminatory learning in the Anxious Model group. The study provides a first step towards understanding the effect of other’s anticipatory responses in general and typically anxious anticipatory responses in particular, on observational fear learning.}, keywords = {Anxiety, Observational learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Humans can acquire fear through the observation of others’ (learning models’) threat responses. These responses can be direct responses to aversive stimuli, or anticipatory responses to threats. Most research focuses on learning from observation of direct responses only. Here, we investigated how observational fear conditioning is influenced by a learning model’s typically anxious anticipatory responses. High anxiety individuals often display typically anxious anticipatory behaviour, such as worsened discrimination between safe and unsafe stimuli, characterized by increased threat responses to safe stimuli. We hypothesized that observation of an anxiously behaving model would worsen discriminatory learning. To this end, we developed an observational conditioning paradigm where a learning model was exposed to one safe and one unsafe stimuli. The learning model displayed anticipatory aversion to either to the unsafe stimulus only (Non-Anxious Model group) or to both the safe and unsafe stimuli (Anxious Model group) in addition to reacting directly to an aversive stimulus paired with the unsafe stimulus. Contrary to expectations, discriminatory learning was not worsened in the Anxious Model group compared to the Non-Anxious Model group. Rather, we saw more robust discriminatory learning in the Anxious Model group. The study provides a first step towards understanding the effect of other’s anticipatory responses in general and typically anxious anticipatory responses in particular, on observational fear learning. |
2017 |
Selbing, I; Olsson, A Beliefs about others’ abilities alter learning from observation Journal Article Scientific Reports, 2017. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Observational learning @article{Selbing2017, title = {Beliefs about others’ abilities alter learning from observation}, author = {I Selbing and A Olsson}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16307-3}, doi = { 10.1038/s41598-017-16307-3}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-11-23}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, abstract = {Learning what is dangerous by observing others can be safer and more efficient than individual learning. The efficiency of observational learning depends on how observational information is used, something we propose depends on our beliefs’ about others. Here, we investigated how described and actual abilities of another individual (a demonstrator) influenced performance and psychophysiology during learning of an observational avoidance task. Participants were divided into two groups. In each group there were two demonstrators who were described as either high (Described-High group) or low (Described-Low group) in their ability to learn the task. In both groups, one demonstrator had a high ability (Actual-High) and the other had a low ability (Actual-Low) to learn. Participants performed worse in the Described-Low compared to the Described-High group. Pupil dilation, and behavioral data in combination with reinforcement learning modeling, suggested that the described ability influenced performance by affecting the level of attention towards the observational information. Skin conductance responses and pupil dilation provided us with a separate measure of learning in addition to choice behavior.}, keywords = {Observational learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Learning what is dangerous by observing others can be safer and more efficient than individual learning. The efficiency of observational learning depends on how observational information is used, something we propose depends on our beliefs’ about others. Here, we investigated how described and actual abilities of another individual (a demonstrator) influenced performance and psychophysiology during learning of an observational avoidance task. Participants were divided into two groups. In each group there were two demonstrators who were described as either high (Described-High group) or low (Described-Low group) in their ability to learn the task. In both groups, one demonstrator had a high ability (Actual-High) and the other had a low ability (Actual-Low) to learn. Participants performed worse in the Described-Low compared to the Described-High group. Pupil dilation, and behavioral data in combination with reinforcement learning modeling, suggested that the described ability influenced performance by affecting the level of attention towards the observational information. Skin conductance responses and pupil dilation provided us with a separate measure of learning in addition to choice behavior. |
Selbing, I Learning from the behaviors and experiences of others PhD Thesis Karolinska Institutet, 2017, ISBN: 978-91-7676-769-6. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Observational learning @phdthesis{Selbing2017b, title = {Learning from the behaviors and experiences of others}, author = {I Selbing}, url = {https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/45997}, isbn = {978-91-7676-769-6}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-18}, school = {Karolinska Institutet}, abstract = {Learning to fear and avoid what is dangerous is crucial for survival. Perhaps equally important is the ability to learn that something which was previously dangerous is now safe. Although we can learn about dangers individually, through our own experiences, it is likely more safe to learn about them from others, by observing their behaviors and reactions. In a sense, this allows us to learn through the experiences of others. The overarching goal of this thesis is to deepen our understanding of how we learn about fear and safety through observation of others. In Study I we let participants undergo an observational extinction paradigm to investigate if safety learning was facilitated through observation of a calm learning model. In a direct conditioning stage participants first learned to associate a stimulus with fear. Next, they learned through that the previously feared stimulus was now safe. This extinction of fear was either direct or vicarious (observational). We demonstrated that attenuation of fear was greater following vicarious rather than direct extinction. We further showed that this was driven by the learning model’s experience of safety. Although learning through others is likely an efficient way of learning, observational learning also has to be applied critically, for instance by not copying the choices of someone that performs poorly. In Study II and Study III we investigated how people learned to make choices through observation of others, demonstrators, which had either a high or low ability. In both studies, participants learned a simple probabilistic two-choice task to avoid shock. Results from Study II demonstrated that people were able to use the observational information to improve performance regardless of the ability (skill) of the demonstrator. They only copied the choices of the demonstrator with high ability and they were able to learn from observing the consequences of a demonstrator’s choice regardless of the demonstrator’s ability. In Study III we also provided participants with descriptions of the abilities of the demonstrators. Our results showed that describing the demonstrator as low in ability impaired observational learning, regardless of the actual ability of the demonstrator and that this is likely driven by a difference in attention directed towards the observational information. An inability to discriminate threatening from safe stimuli is typical for individuals suffering from anxiety. In Study IV we investigated how observational fear conditioning is affected by the learning model’s expressed anticipatory anxiety. Results showed that participants were able to discriminate the threatening from the safe stimuli equally well from a learning model that behaved anxiously (i.e. did not discriminate) as from one that did not behave anxiously (i.e. did discriminate). The results presented in this thesis increase our understanding of how healthy individuals learn about aversive events and stimuli through observation of the behaviors and reactions of others and how these reflect the observed individuals’ experiences.}, keywords = {Observational learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {phdthesis} } Learning to fear and avoid what is dangerous is crucial for survival. Perhaps equally important is the ability to learn that something which was previously dangerous is now safe. Although we can learn about dangers individually, through our own experiences, it is likely more safe to learn about them from others, by observing their behaviors and reactions. In a sense, this allows us to learn through the experiences of others. The overarching goal of this thesis is to deepen our understanding of how we learn about fear and safety through observation of others. In Study I we let participants undergo an observational extinction paradigm to investigate if safety learning was facilitated through observation of a calm learning model. In a direct conditioning stage participants first learned to associate a stimulus with fear. Next, they learned through that the previously feared stimulus was now safe. This extinction of fear was either direct or vicarious (observational). We demonstrated that attenuation of fear was greater following vicarious rather than direct extinction. We further showed that this was driven by the learning model’s experience of safety. Although learning through others is likely an efficient way of learning, observational learning also has to be applied critically, for instance by not copying the choices of someone that performs poorly. In Study II and Study III we investigated how people learned to make choices through observation of others, demonstrators, which had either a high or low ability. In both studies, participants learned a simple probabilistic two-choice task to avoid shock. Results from Study II demonstrated that people were able to use the observational information to improve performance regardless of the ability (skill) of the demonstrator. They only copied the choices of the demonstrator with high ability and they were able to learn from observing the consequences of a demonstrator’s choice regardless of the demonstrator’s ability. In Study III we also provided participants with descriptions of the abilities of the demonstrators. Our results showed that describing the demonstrator as low in ability impaired observational learning, regardless of the actual ability of the demonstrator and that this is likely driven by a difference in attention directed towards the observational information. An inability to discriminate threatening from safe stimuli is typical for individuals suffering from anxiety. In Study IV we investigated how observational fear conditioning is affected by the learning model’s expressed anticipatory anxiety. Results showed that participants were able to discriminate the threatening from the safe stimuli equally well from a learning model that behaved anxiously (i.e. did not discriminate) as from one that did not behave anxiously (i.e. did discriminate). The results presented in this thesis increase our understanding of how healthy individuals learn about aversive events and stimuli through observation of the behaviors and reactions of others and how these reflect the observed individuals’ experiences. |
2016 |
Olsson, A; Kopsida, E; Sorjonen, K; Savic, I Testosterone and estrogen impact social evaluations and vicarious emotions: A double-blind placebo-controlled study Journal Article Emotion, 16 (4), pp. 515-523, 2016. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Affect, Empathy, Hormone, Mentalizing, Observational learning, Obsfear procedure, Social cognition @article{Olsson2016b, title = {Testosterone and estrogen impact social evaluations and vicarious emotions: A double-blind placebo-controlled study}, author = {A Olsson and E Kopsida and K Sorjonen and I Savic}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Olsson_etal_testosterone2016.pdf}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039765}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-01-01}, journal = {Emotion}, volume = {16}, number = {4}, pages = {515-523}, abstract = {The abilities to "read" other peoples' intentions and emotions, and to learn from their experiences, are critical to survival. Previous studies have highlighted the role of sex hormones, notably testosterone and estrogen, in these processes. Yet it is unclear how these hormones affect social cognition and emotion using acute hormonal administration. In the present double-blind placebo-controlled study, we administered an acute exogenous dose of testosterone or estrogen to healthy female and male volunteers, respectively, with the aim of investigating the effects of these steroids on social-cognitive and emotional processes. Following hormonal and placebo treatment, participants made (a) facial dominance judgments, (b) mental state inferences (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), and (c) learned aversive associations through watching others' emotional responses (observational fear learning [OFL]). Our results showed that testosterone administration to females enhanced ratings of facial dominance but diminished their accuracy in inferring mental states. In men, estrogen administration resulted in an increase in emotional (vicarious) reactivity when watching a distressed other during the OFL task. Taken together, these results suggest that sex hormones affect social-cognitive and emotional functions at several levels, linking our results to neuropsychiatric disorders in which these functions are impaired}, keywords = {Affect, Empathy, Hormone, Mentalizing, Observational learning, Obsfear procedure, Social cognition}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The abilities to "read" other peoples' intentions and emotions, and to learn from their experiences, are critical to survival. Previous studies have highlighted the role of sex hormones, notably testosterone and estrogen, in these processes. Yet it is unclear how these hormones affect social cognition and emotion using acute hormonal administration. In the present double-blind placebo-controlled study, we administered an acute exogenous dose of testosterone or estrogen to healthy female and male volunteers, respectively, with the aim of investigating the effects of these steroids on social-cognitive and emotional processes. Following hormonal and placebo treatment, participants made (a) facial dominance judgments, (b) mental state inferences (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), and (c) learned aversive associations through watching others' emotional responses (observational fear learning [OFL]). Our results showed that testosterone administration to females enhanced ratings of facial dominance but diminished their accuracy in inferring mental states. In men, estrogen administration resulted in an increase in emotional (vicarious) reactivity when watching a distressed other during the OFL task. Taken together, these results suggest that sex hormones affect social-cognitive and emotional functions at several levels, linking our results to neuropsychiatric disorders in which these functions are impaired |
2014 |
Selbing, I; Lindström, B; Olsson, A Demonstrator skill modulates observational aversive learning Journal Article Cognition, 133 (1), pp. 128–139, 2014, ISSN: 00100277. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Avoidance, Observational learning, Reinforcement learning, Skill @article{Selbing2014, title = {Demonstrator skill modulates observational aversive learning}, author = {I Selbing and B Lindstr\"{o}m and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cognition_2014_Selbing_Lindstrom_Olsson.pdf}, doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2014.06.010}, issn = {00100277}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-10-01}, journal = {Cognition}, volume = {133}, number = {1}, pages = {128--139}, abstract = {Learning to avoid danger by observing others can be relatively safe, because it does not incur the potential costs of individual trial and error. However, information gained through social observation might be less reliable than information gained through individual experiences, underscoring the need to apply observational learning critically. In order for observational learning to be adaptive it should be modulated by the skill of the observed person, the demonstrator. To address this issue, we used a probabilistic two-choice task where participants learned to minimize the number of electric shocks through individual learning and by observing a demonstrator performing the same task. By manipulating the demonstrator's skill we varied how useful the observable information was; the demonstrator either learned the task quickly or did not learn it at all (random choices). To investigate the modulatory effect in detail, the task was performed under three conditions of available observable information; no observable information, observation of choices only, and observation of both the choices and their consequences. As predicted, our results showed that observable information can improve performance compared to individual learning, both when the demonstrator is skilled and unskilled; observation of consequences improved performance for both groups while observation of choices only improved performance for the group observing the skilled demonstrator. Reinforcement learning modeling showed that demonstrator skill modulated observational learning from the demonstrator's choices, but not their consequences, by increasing the degree of imitation over time for the group that observed a fast learner. Our results show that humans can adaptively modulate observational learning in response to the usefulness of observable information.}, keywords = {Avoidance, Observational learning, Reinforcement learning, Skill}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Learning to avoid danger by observing others can be relatively safe, because it does not incur the potential costs of individual trial and error. However, information gained through social observation might be less reliable than information gained through individual experiences, underscoring the need to apply observational learning critically. In order for observational learning to be adaptive it should be modulated by the skill of the observed person, the demonstrator. To address this issue, we used a probabilistic two-choice task where participants learned to minimize the number of electric shocks through individual learning and by observing a demonstrator performing the same task. By manipulating the demonstrator's skill we varied how useful the observable information was; the demonstrator either learned the task quickly or did not learn it at all (random choices). To investigate the modulatory effect in detail, the task was performed under three conditions of available observable information; no observable information, observation of choices only, and observation of both the choices and their consequences. As predicted, our results showed that observable information can improve performance compared to individual learning, both when the demonstrator is skilled and unskilled; observation of consequences improved performance for both groups while observation of choices only improved performance for the group observing the skilled demonstrator. Reinforcement learning modeling showed that demonstrator skill modulated observational learning from the demonstrator's choices, but not their consequences, by increasing the degree of imitation over time for the group that observed a fast learner. Our results show that humans can adaptively modulate observational learning in response to the usefulness of observable information. |
2013 |
Golkar, A; Selbing, I; Flygare, O; Öhman, A; Olsson, A Other people as means to a safe end Journal Article Psychological Science, 24 (11), pp. 2182-2190, 2013. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Emotion, Extinction, Fear, Learning, Observational learning, Obsfear procedure, Reinstatement, Social cognition, Vicarious learning @article{Golkar2013, title = {Other people as means to a safe end}, author = {A Golkar and I Selbing and O Flygare and A \"{O}hman and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Golkar2013.pdf}, doi = {10.1177/0956797613489890}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-09-10}, journal = {Psychological Science}, volume = {24}, number = {11}, pages = {2182-2190}, abstract = {Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice.}, keywords = {Emotion, Extinction, Fear, Learning, Observational learning, Obsfear procedure, Reinstatement, Social cognition, Vicarious learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice. |
Under Review
2020 |
Pärnamets, P; Espinosa, L; Olsson, A Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020, ISSN: 1471-2954. @article{P\"{a}rnamets2020, title = {Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans}, author = {P P\"{a}rnamets and L Espinosa and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2019.2779}, issn = {1471-2954}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-25}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B}, abstract = {Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations. |
2019 |
Selbing, I; Olsson, A Anxious behaviour in a demonstrator affects observational learning Journal Article Scientific Reports, 9 , pp. 9181, 2019. @article{Selbing2019, title = {Anxious behaviour in a demonstrator affects observational learning}, author = {I Selbing and A Olsson}, url = {www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45613-1}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-24}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {9}, pages = {9181}, abstract = {Humans can acquire fear through the observation of others’ (learning models’) threat responses. These responses can be direct responses to aversive stimuli, or anticipatory responses to threats. Most research focuses on learning from observation of direct responses only. Here, we investigated how observational fear conditioning is influenced by a learning model’s typically anxious anticipatory responses. High anxiety individuals often display typically anxious anticipatory behaviour, such as worsened discrimination between safe and unsafe stimuli, characterized by increased threat responses to safe stimuli. We hypothesized that observation of an anxiously behaving model would worsen discriminatory learning. To this end, we developed an observational conditioning paradigm where a learning model was exposed to one safe and one unsafe stimuli. The learning model displayed anticipatory aversion to either to the unsafe stimulus only (Non-Anxious Model group) or to both the safe and unsafe stimuli (Anxious Model group) in addition to reacting directly to an aversive stimulus paired with the unsafe stimulus. Contrary to expectations, discriminatory learning was not worsened in the Anxious Model group compared to the Non-Anxious Model group. Rather, we saw more robust discriminatory learning in the Anxious Model group. The study provides a first step towards understanding the effect of other’s anticipatory responses in general and typically anxious anticipatory responses in particular, on observational fear learning.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Humans can acquire fear through the observation of others’ (learning models’) threat responses. These responses can be direct responses to aversive stimuli, or anticipatory responses to threats. Most research focuses on learning from observation of direct responses only. Here, we investigated how observational fear conditioning is influenced by a learning model’s typically anxious anticipatory responses. High anxiety individuals often display typically anxious anticipatory behaviour, such as worsened discrimination between safe and unsafe stimuli, characterized by increased threat responses to safe stimuli. We hypothesized that observation of an anxiously behaving model would worsen discriminatory learning. To this end, we developed an observational conditioning paradigm where a learning model was exposed to one safe and one unsafe stimuli. The learning model displayed anticipatory aversion to either to the unsafe stimulus only (Non-Anxious Model group) or to both the safe and unsafe stimuli (Anxious Model group) in addition to reacting directly to an aversive stimulus paired with the unsafe stimulus. Contrary to expectations, discriminatory learning was not worsened in the Anxious Model group compared to the Non-Anxious Model group. Rather, we saw more robust discriminatory learning in the Anxious Model group. The study provides a first step towards understanding the effect of other’s anticipatory responses in general and typically anxious anticipatory responses in particular, on observational fear learning. |
2017 |
Selbing, I; Olsson, A Beliefs about others’ abilities alter learning from observation Journal Article Scientific Reports, 2017. @article{Selbing2017, title = {Beliefs about others’ abilities alter learning from observation}, author = {I Selbing and A Olsson}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16307-3}, doi = { 10.1038/s41598-017-16307-3}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-11-23}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, abstract = {Learning what is dangerous by observing others can be safer and more efficient than individual learning. The efficiency of observational learning depends on how observational information is used, something we propose depends on our beliefs’ about others. Here, we investigated how described and actual abilities of another individual (a demonstrator) influenced performance and psychophysiology during learning of an observational avoidance task. Participants were divided into two groups. In each group there were two demonstrators who were described as either high (Described-High group) or low (Described-Low group) in their ability to learn the task. In both groups, one demonstrator had a high ability (Actual-High) and the other had a low ability (Actual-Low) to learn. Participants performed worse in the Described-Low compared to the Described-High group. Pupil dilation, and behavioral data in combination with reinforcement learning modeling, suggested that the described ability influenced performance by affecting the level of attention towards the observational information. Skin conductance responses and pupil dilation provided us with a separate measure of learning in addition to choice behavior.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Learning what is dangerous by observing others can be safer and more efficient than individual learning. The efficiency of observational learning depends on how observational information is used, something we propose depends on our beliefs’ about others. Here, we investigated how described and actual abilities of another individual (a demonstrator) influenced performance and psychophysiology during learning of an observational avoidance task. Participants were divided into two groups. In each group there were two demonstrators who were described as either high (Described-High group) or low (Described-Low group) in their ability to learn the task. In both groups, one demonstrator had a high ability (Actual-High) and the other had a low ability (Actual-Low) to learn. Participants performed worse in the Described-Low compared to the Described-High group. Pupil dilation, and behavioral data in combination with reinforcement learning modeling, suggested that the described ability influenced performance by affecting the level of attention towards the observational information. Skin conductance responses and pupil dilation provided us with a separate measure of learning in addition to choice behavior. |
Selbing, I Learning from the behaviors and experiences of others PhD Thesis Karolinska Institutet, 2017, ISBN: 978-91-7676-769-6. @phdthesis{Selbing2017b, title = {Learning from the behaviors and experiences of others}, author = {I Selbing}, url = {https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/45997}, isbn = {978-91-7676-769-6}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-18}, school = {Karolinska Institutet}, abstract = {Learning to fear and avoid what is dangerous is crucial for survival. Perhaps equally important is the ability to learn that something which was previously dangerous is now safe. Although we can learn about dangers individually, through our own experiences, it is likely more safe to learn about them from others, by observing their behaviors and reactions. In a sense, this allows us to learn through the experiences of others. The overarching goal of this thesis is to deepen our understanding of how we learn about fear and safety through observation of others. In Study I we let participants undergo an observational extinction paradigm to investigate if safety learning was facilitated through observation of a calm learning model. In a direct conditioning stage participants first learned to associate a stimulus with fear. Next, they learned through that the previously feared stimulus was now safe. This extinction of fear was either direct or vicarious (observational). We demonstrated that attenuation of fear was greater following vicarious rather than direct extinction. We further showed that this was driven by the learning model’s experience of safety. Although learning through others is likely an efficient way of learning, observational learning also has to be applied critically, for instance by not copying the choices of someone that performs poorly. In Study II and Study III we investigated how people learned to make choices through observation of others, demonstrators, which had either a high or low ability. In both studies, participants learned a simple probabilistic two-choice task to avoid shock. Results from Study II demonstrated that people were able to use the observational information to improve performance regardless of the ability (skill) of the demonstrator. They only copied the choices of the demonstrator with high ability and they were able to learn from observing the consequences of a demonstrator’s choice regardless of the demonstrator’s ability. In Study III we also provided participants with descriptions of the abilities of the demonstrators. Our results showed that describing the demonstrator as low in ability impaired observational learning, regardless of the actual ability of the demonstrator and that this is likely driven by a difference in attention directed towards the observational information. An inability to discriminate threatening from safe stimuli is typical for individuals suffering from anxiety. In Study IV we investigated how observational fear conditioning is affected by the learning model’s expressed anticipatory anxiety. Results showed that participants were able to discriminate the threatening from the safe stimuli equally well from a learning model that behaved anxiously (i.e. did not discriminate) as from one that did not behave anxiously (i.e. did discriminate). The results presented in this thesis increase our understanding of how healthy individuals learn about aversive events and stimuli through observation of the behaviors and reactions of others and how these reflect the observed individuals’ experiences.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {phdthesis} } Learning to fear and avoid what is dangerous is crucial for survival. Perhaps equally important is the ability to learn that something which was previously dangerous is now safe. Although we can learn about dangers individually, through our own experiences, it is likely more safe to learn about them from others, by observing their behaviors and reactions. In a sense, this allows us to learn through the experiences of others. The overarching goal of this thesis is to deepen our understanding of how we learn about fear and safety through observation of others. In Study I we let participants undergo an observational extinction paradigm to investigate if safety learning was facilitated through observation of a calm learning model. In a direct conditioning stage participants first learned to associate a stimulus with fear. Next, they learned through that the previously feared stimulus was now safe. This extinction of fear was either direct or vicarious (observational). We demonstrated that attenuation of fear was greater following vicarious rather than direct extinction. We further showed that this was driven by the learning model’s experience of safety. Although learning through others is likely an efficient way of learning, observational learning also has to be applied critically, for instance by not copying the choices of someone that performs poorly. In Study II and Study III we investigated how people learned to make choices through observation of others, demonstrators, which had either a high or low ability. In both studies, participants learned a simple probabilistic two-choice task to avoid shock. Results from Study II demonstrated that people were able to use the observational information to improve performance regardless of the ability (skill) of the demonstrator. They only copied the choices of the demonstrator with high ability and they were able to learn from observing the consequences of a demonstrator’s choice regardless of the demonstrator’s ability. In Study III we also provided participants with descriptions of the abilities of the demonstrators. Our results showed that describing the demonstrator as low in ability impaired observational learning, regardless of the actual ability of the demonstrator and that this is likely driven by a difference in attention directed towards the observational information. An inability to discriminate threatening from safe stimuli is typical for individuals suffering from anxiety. In Study IV we investigated how observational fear conditioning is affected by the learning model’s expressed anticipatory anxiety. Results showed that participants were able to discriminate the threatening from the safe stimuli equally well from a learning model that behaved anxiously (i.e. did not discriminate) as from one that did not behave anxiously (i.e. did discriminate). The results presented in this thesis increase our understanding of how healthy individuals learn about aversive events and stimuli through observation of the behaviors and reactions of others and how these reflect the observed individuals’ experiences. |
2016 |
Olsson, A; Kopsida, E; Sorjonen, K; Savic, I Testosterone and estrogen impact social evaluations and vicarious emotions: A double-blind placebo-controlled study Journal Article Emotion, 16 (4), pp. 515-523, 2016. @article{Olsson2016b, title = {Testosterone and estrogen impact social evaluations and vicarious emotions: A double-blind placebo-controlled study}, author = {A Olsson and E Kopsida and K Sorjonen and I Savic}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Olsson_etal_testosterone2016.pdf}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039765}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-01-01}, journal = {Emotion}, volume = {16}, number = {4}, pages = {515-523}, abstract = {The abilities to "read" other peoples' intentions and emotions, and to learn from their experiences, are critical to survival. Previous studies have highlighted the role of sex hormones, notably testosterone and estrogen, in these processes. Yet it is unclear how these hormones affect social cognition and emotion using acute hormonal administration. In the present double-blind placebo-controlled study, we administered an acute exogenous dose of testosterone or estrogen to healthy female and male volunteers, respectively, with the aim of investigating the effects of these steroids on social-cognitive and emotional processes. Following hormonal and placebo treatment, participants made (a) facial dominance judgments, (b) mental state inferences (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), and (c) learned aversive associations through watching others' emotional responses (observational fear learning [OFL]). Our results showed that testosterone administration to females enhanced ratings of facial dominance but diminished their accuracy in inferring mental states. In men, estrogen administration resulted in an increase in emotional (vicarious) reactivity when watching a distressed other during the OFL task. Taken together, these results suggest that sex hormones affect social-cognitive and emotional functions at several levels, linking our results to neuropsychiatric disorders in which these functions are impaired}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The abilities to "read" other peoples' intentions and emotions, and to learn from their experiences, are critical to survival. Previous studies have highlighted the role of sex hormones, notably testosterone and estrogen, in these processes. Yet it is unclear how these hormones affect social cognition and emotion using acute hormonal administration. In the present double-blind placebo-controlled study, we administered an acute exogenous dose of testosterone or estrogen to healthy female and male volunteers, respectively, with the aim of investigating the effects of these steroids on social-cognitive and emotional processes. Following hormonal and placebo treatment, participants made (a) facial dominance judgments, (b) mental state inferences (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), and (c) learned aversive associations through watching others' emotional responses (observational fear learning [OFL]). Our results showed that testosterone administration to females enhanced ratings of facial dominance but diminished their accuracy in inferring mental states. In men, estrogen administration resulted in an increase in emotional (vicarious) reactivity when watching a distressed other during the OFL task. Taken together, these results suggest that sex hormones affect social-cognitive and emotional functions at several levels, linking our results to neuropsychiatric disorders in which these functions are impaired |
2014 |
Selbing, I; Lindström, B; Olsson, A Demonstrator skill modulates observational aversive learning Journal Article Cognition, 133 (1), pp. 128–139, 2014, ISSN: 00100277. @article{Selbing2014, title = {Demonstrator skill modulates observational aversive learning}, author = {I Selbing and B Lindstr\"{o}m and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cognition_2014_Selbing_Lindstrom_Olsson.pdf}, doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2014.06.010}, issn = {00100277}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-10-01}, journal = {Cognition}, volume = {133}, number = {1}, pages = {128--139}, abstract = {Learning to avoid danger by observing others can be relatively safe, because it does not incur the potential costs of individual trial and error. However, information gained through social observation might be less reliable than information gained through individual experiences, underscoring the need to apply observational learning critically. In order for observational learning to be adaptive it should be modulated by the skill of the observed person, the demonstrator. To address this issue, we used a probabilistic two-choice task where participants learned to minimize the number of electric shocks through individual learning and by observing a demonstrator performing the same task. By manipulating the demonstrator's skill we varied how useful the observable information was; the demonstrator either learned the task quickly or did not learn it at all (random choices). To investigate the modulatory effect in detail, the task was performed under three conditions of available observable information; no observable information, observation of choices only, and observation of both the choices and their consequences. As predicted, our results showed that observable information can improve performance compared to individual learning, both when the demonstrator is skilled and unskilled; observation of consequences improved performance for both groups while observation of choices only improved performance for the group observing the skilled demonstrator. Reinforcement learning modeling showed that demonstrator skill modulated observational learning from the demonstrator's choices, but not their consequences, by increasing the degree of imitation over time for the group that observed a fast learner. Our results show that humans can adaptively modulate observational learning in response to the usefulness of observable information.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Learning to avoid danger by observing others can be relatively safe, because it does not incur the potential costs of individual trial and error. However, information gained through social observation might be less reliable than information gained through individual experiences, underscoring the need to apply observational learning critically. In order for observational learning to be adaptive it should be modulated by the skill of the observed person, the demonstrator. To address this issue, we used a probabilistic two-choice task where participants learned to minimize the number of electric shocks through individual learning and by observing a demonstrator performing the same task. By manipulating the demonstrator's skill we varied how useful the observable information was; the demonstrator either learned the task quickly or did not learn it at all (random choices). To investigate the modulatory effect in detail, the task was performed under three conditions of available observable information; no observable information, observation of choices only, and observation of both the choices and their consequences. As predicted, our results showed that observable information can improve performance compared to individual learning, both when the demonstrator is skilled and unskilled; observation of consequences improved performance for both groups while observation of choices only improved performance for the group observing the skilled demonstrator. Reinforcement learning modeling showed that demonstrator skill modulated observational learning from the demonstrator's choices, but not their consequences, by increasing the degree of imitation over time for the group that observed a fast learner. Our results show that humans can adaptively modulate observational learning in response to the usefulness of observable information. |
2013 |
Golkar, A; Selbing, I; Flygare, O; Öhman, A; Olsson, A Other people as means to a safe end Journal Article Psychological Science, 24 (11), pp. 2182-2190, 2013. @article{Golkar2013, title = {Other people as means to a safe end}, author = {A Golkar and I Selbing and O Flygare and A \"{O}hman and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Golkar2013.pdf}, doi = {10.1177/0956797613489890}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-09-10}, journal = {Psychological Science}, volume = {24}, number = {11}, pages = {2182-2190}, abstract = {Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice. |