Reinforcement sensitivity theory

Gray's biopsychological theory of personality was informed by his earlier studies with Mowrer on reward, punishment, and motivation and Hans Eysenck's study of the biology of personality traits. Eysenck linked Extraversion to activation of the ascending reticular activating system, an area of the brain which regulates sleep and arousal transitions. Eysenck's two original personality factors, Neuroticism and Extraversion, were derived from the same lexical paradigm used by other researchers (e.g., Gordon Allport, Raymond Cattell) to delineate the structure of personality. Eysenck's Extraversion-Arousal Hypothesis states that under low stimulation conditions, introverts (defined as low in Extraversion) will be more highly aroused than extraverts; however, under high stimulation, introverts may become over-aroused, which will feedback within the ascending reticular activating system and result in decreases in arousal. In contrast, extraverts tend to show greater increases in arousal under high stimulation. Eysenck also studied the relationship between neuroticism and activation of the limbic system using classical emotional conditioning models. His theory focused more on anxiety as a disorder than a personality trait. Gray's biopsychological theory: behavioral activation and inhibition systems Unlike Eysenck, Gray believed that personality traits and disorders could not be explained by classical conditioning alone. Gray proposed the Biopsychological Theory of personality in 1970 based on extensive animal research. His theory emphasized the relationship between personality and sensitivity to reinforcement (i.e. reward and punishment). Eysenck's theory emphasized Extraversion, Neuroticism, and arousal, while Gray's theory emphasized Impulsivity, Anxiety, approach motivation, and avoidance motivation. The largest of these contributions was that the biological central nervous system can be linked to a psychological reward system, composed of approach and inhibition systems. The system is responsive to conditioned and unconditioned reward cues. BAS regulates approach behaviors and is referred to as the reward system. In general, individuals with a more active BAS tend to be more impulsive and may have difficulty inhibiting their behavior when approaching a goal. Furthermore, BAS is related to stimuli associated with the presence of reward and/or the cease of punishment, also understood as positive reinforcement. Behavioral inhibition system (BIS) • The BIS also includes brain regions involved in regulating arousal: the brain stem, and neocortical projections to the frontal lobe. BIS is responsive to punishment, novelty, uncertainty, and non-rewarding stimuli. BIS regulates avoidance behaviors and is often referred to as the punishment system. It has also been called the "stop" because it encourages inhibition of behaviors. Fight/flight system (FFS) • The FFS encourages extreme reactions in response to threats. These include reactions of rage, panic, and fight or flight, and is sensitive to unconditioned aversive stimuli. FFS is often referred to as the threat system. however, FFS is a measure of one's intensity to respond with either fight or flight behavior, as opposed to reacting not so acutely to perceived threats. Measures High BAS is generally associated with high extraversion, low neuroticism, and trait impulsivity, while high BIS is associated with low extraversion, high neuroticism, and trait anxiety. In addition to predicting trait standings, high BAS is associated with higher positive affect in response to reward, while high BIS is associated with higher negative affect in response to punishment. The Generalized Reward and Punishment Expectancies Scales (GRAPES) were also used to operationalize BIS and BAS. Both self-report measures (listed above) and behavioral measures (such as affective modulation of the eyeblink startle response) have been used to test predictions and provide mixed support for Gray's theory. Matthews and Gilliland proposed separate cognitive systems underlying fear and anxiety and emphasized the need to study these systems outside of animal models. The Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) redefined the three systems underlying anxiety, impulsivity, motivation, and reinforcement learning. ==Reinforcement sensitivity theory==

Reinforcement sensitivity theory is one of the major biological models of individual differences in emotion, motivation, and learning. The theory distinguishes between fear and anxiety, and links reinforcement processes to personality. Behavioral activation system (BAS) • Proposed to facilitate reactions to all appetitive/rewarding stimuli and regulates approach behavior. Furthermore, the possibility of anxiety's triggering panic and vice versa supports a model of the BIS and the FFFS in which the two are not causally independent. Conflicting results regarding the relationship between fear and anxiety may reflect measures which were not updated to reflect the functionally dependent systems of the new RST. D.C. Blanchard and colleagues (2001) created vignettes with response options that modeled rodent reactions to anxiety (the BIS, used ambiguous/partially threatening stimuli) and fear (the FFFS, used pure threat situations) to study these constructs in humans. These behavioroid scales ask: "What would you do if (insert scenario inducing fear or anxiety)?" Response options accurately reflect the revised RST, but have not been widely tested or applied. Independence implies that reactivity to rewards should be approximately equal across all levels of punishment, and reactivity to punishment should be equal across all levels of reward. Thus, rewarding stimuli may activate the BAS, without exerting effects on the BIS or the FFFS. Empirical tests find that Extraversion is a better predictor than Impulsivity of reward learning. Some components of the BAS and reward learning are better explained by association with Extraversion, especially high positive affect, while the cortical arousal loop originally proposed to underlie BAS in Gray's theory is still tied most closely with Impulsivity. Regardless of the trait label, the authors point out that the RST did not develop as a theory to explain the personality constructs, Anxiety and Impulsivity. Rather, the RST predicts associations between reinforcement sensitivity, motivation, and behavior. ==Applications==

Workplace performance Carver and White's 1994 BIS/BAS scales These measures are not based on the revised RST, and may confound fear and anxiety. Alternatively, a scale created by Jackson and termed the Jackson 5 has recently been validated as a measure of the revised RST and shows convergent validity with measures of fear and anxiety. The proposed fear (FFFS) subscale is associated with avoidance behaviors (example item: 'If approached by a suspicious stranger, I run away') while the anxiety (BIS) subscale includes social situations wherein reward and punishment stimuli result in conflict between approach and avoidance motivations (example item: 'I prefer to work on projects where I can prove my abilities to others'). Clark and Loxton (2011) used the Jackson 5 to investigate mediators between fear, psychological acceptance, and work engagement. High BIS was found to correlate directly with stronger depressive symptoms, while high BAS was found to correlate directly with low depressive symptoms. Levels of BIS and BAS can be used to predict levels of substance use. Individuals with low BIS levels combined with high BAS levels showed activation patterns similar to activation patterns of heavy substance users in past studies. Individuals with high BIS levels and low BAS levels showed patterns of expectancy activation similar to those of light or non-users. ==See also==