The role of affective relevance in Pavlovian appetitive conditioning Appetitive conditioning & Affective Relevance (APPAR)

Pavlovian conditioning is a fundamental process by which organisms learn to predict stimuli signaling threats or rewards in the environment. Surprisingly, the psychological mechanisms underlying why specific stimuli are preferentially associated with motivationally significant outcomes during Pavlovian conditioning remain unclear. Here, we examine a theoretical framework derived from appraisal theories suggesting that affective relevance is a key mechanism modulating Pavlovian learning biases. Specifically, the present study aims to test the hypothesis that stimuli that are appraised as affectively relevant are more readily and persistently learned during Pavlovian appetitive conditioning irrespective of their valence. A sample of 128 healthy adults will be recruited. This sample size was established by means of a simulation-based power analysis. The study will combine a Pavlovian appetitive conditioning paradigm, wherein the affective relevance of conditioned stimuli will be manipulated, with computational modeling using reinforcement learning and pupillometry as an indicator of the conditioned response. notReviewed other