I Saw That Coming
Subtle changes in milieu routine can have intense and immediate consequences. Not following through on anticipated events - movies, treats, activities - can shift the safety of a unit in fractions of a second. If you’ve ever seen this happen in a milieu, if you’ve watched a youth appear indifferent to a potential reward, or a spontaneous shift in a youth’s behavior that ‘seemed to come from out of nowhere’, you have seen Dopamine in action. This edition of Know your Sheet exposes the primacy of predictability, and what happens when disappointment becomes predictable.
The Article: Coding of Predicted Reward Omission by Dopamine Neurons in a Conditioned Inhibition Paradigm (2003)
Authors: Philippe N. Tobler, Anthony Dickinson, Wolfram Schultz
Publishing Journal: The Journal of Neuroscience
Research Agency/University: University of Cambridge, University of Fribourg
Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation, the European Union (Human Capital and Mobility and Biomed 2 programs), the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the British Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Roche Research Foundation, the Janggen-Poehn Foundation, and the Cambridge Overseas Trust.
In a Nutshell:
Rewards, and contexts that signal reward for an individual, prompt attention and positive reinforcement of reward achieving behaviors. Dopamine neurons track which contextual cues and behaviors that achieve reward or avoid threat. Contextual cues that signal reward induce spikes in dopamine, contexts that signal a reward omission, something the researchers call a conditioned inhibition create considerable depressions in dopamine. Cues that signal reward-omission induce a depression in dopamine. In the presence of those inhibition cues in the future, the individual is less motivated to perform the behaviors necessary to achieve that reward.
Why this Article Matters to you:
When youth experience the presence of a potential reward, then an indication that the reward will not actually be delivered they will experience a drop in dopamine and be less motivated to follow direction.
Staff and Administration inadvertently create conditioned inhibitors by not following through on events (movie, treat, activity) we have told youth will happen or even that they may happen.
Opportunities for Immediate Application:
Expect youth to be vigilant about the presence of cues that signal reward omission – this is a feature, not a bug.
Proactively reducing cues that signal the omission of possible rewards in your facility (i.e. sudden changes in staff on unit, changes in timing of meals or activities can help reduce aggressive outbursts on unit.