Cognitive Dissonance in Rats - D.M. Dwyer

Question 1

(Dwyer’s research):

Define Hedonics.

Answer 1

(Dwyer’s research):

Hedonics -

The branch of psychology that studies pleasant and unpleasant sensations and states of mind.

Question 2

(Dwyer’s research):

Why did he research hedonics in rats?

Answer 2

(Dwyer’s research):

‘One of the key concerns of animal-based work in psychology is to use the extra control that is possible when performing animal studies to fully explore mechanisms that are conserved across different species.

Despite the “cognitive revolution” much human-focused psychology concerns questions of affect. E.g.:
> Why do we like one thing and not another?
> What makes us feel good or bad?

Despite the centrality of affect to human psychology there is actually very little work examining “hedonics” in animals. But I’m trying to fill that gap!’

Question 3

(Dwyer’s research):

Define aversion.

Answer 3

(Dwyer’s research):

Aversion -

A fixed, intense dislike.

Question 4

(Dwyer’s research):

What is the universal hedonic reaction?

What is the universal aversion reaction?

Answer 4

(Dwyer’s research):

HEDONIC -
Tongue protrusions to sweet.

AVERSION -
Gapes to bitter.

Question 5

(Dwyer’s research):

Read slide 6 to learn about licking + liking.

Answer 5

Keep going, after the exams you can relax and paint, DO YOUR BEST.

Question 6

(Dwyer’s research):

Read slide 7 + 8 to learn about consumption vs. lick cluster size.

Answer 6

Keep going, after the exams you can relax and paint, DO YOUR BEST.

Question 7

(background):

Describe the issue with depression that influences Dwyer’s research.

Answer 7

(background):

Depression is a complex & debilitating disorder with high prevalence.

(see slide 9 for symptoms)

A number of people with depressions are treatment resistant. So new (possibly drug) treatments are needed.

(in rats study below) If the sucrose conc. Was high and the lick clusters were low we can see that the rat is not having a normal anhedonic reaction to the solution.

SOMETHING TO MAYBE READ:
J. F. Cryan , A. Markou , & I. Lucki (2002), Assessing antidepressant activity in rodents: recent developments and future needs, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 23

Question 8

(background):

Describe WKY rats.

Answer 8

(background):

One potentially interesting model of depression is the WKY rat.

These rats are predisposed to depression-like symptoms (although anhedonia has never been tested directly).

Also, some external stress may be essential for the WKY rat to display disordered symptoms.

This is relevant to the human disorder – it is likely that the causes of depression usually include a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Question 9

(Dwyer’s research):

Describe the experimental procedure.

Answer 9

(Dwyer’s research):

see slide 12 + doc

Question 10

(Dwyer’s research):

Describe the results.

Answer 10

(Dwyer’s research):

see slide 13 + doc

Question 11

(Dwyer’s research):

Read slide 14

Answer 11

Keep going, after the exams you can relax and paint, DO YOUR BEST.

Question 12

(background):

Define cognitive dissonance.

Answer 12

(background):

Cognitive Dissonance (Leon Festinger) is the term describing the state of psychological discomfort that occurs when there is a discrepancy between a person’s attitude and actions.

People are motivated to reduce this dissonance.

The problem can be resolved by changing the attitude (especially if the actions can’t change).

Although “dissonance” is often described in high level terms, it is logically possible that non-human animals might also find a conflict between their attitudes and actions unpleasant.

In 1962 Lawrence & Festinger co-authored a book which argued that rats show cognitive dissonance effects.

Question 13

(background):

Describe ‘effort justification’

Answer 13

(background):

People typically place greater value on things that they have worked harder for than things that have “come easy”. This is true even when the outcome of different levels of effort is the same.

One common explanation of such “Effort Justification” relies on the idea of Cognitive Dissonance.

That is, people may notice that working hard for a reward is inconsistent with that reward being of little value. They may then reduce this apparent discrepancy between their actions and the value of the outcome by changing their attitude to the outcome.

Question 14

(Dwyer’s research):

Describe how Dwyer discovered that cognitive dissonance might exist in rats.

Answer 14

(Dwyer’s research):

see slides 20 - the end + doc