Reference Point-Dependent Reinforcement Learning in Humans and Rats

Reference Point-Dependent Reinforcement Learning in Humans and Rats | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reference Point-Dependent Reinforcement Learning in Humans and Rats Stefano Palminteri, Lachlan Ferguson, Magdalena Soukupova, Sebastien Bouret, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6443873/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rewards and punishments in reinforcement learning are encoded in both absolute and relative manners. Reference-point dependence, a valuation bias shared by adaptation-level and prospect theories, is often proposed as the computational mechanism underlying relative value encoding. However, the extent to which these behavioural and computational mechanisms are preserved across species is unclear. We therefore designed parallel reinforcement learning tasks in humans and rats to examine reference-point dependence across species. Behavioural analyses indicated robust relative value encoding in both species and computational modelling confirmed that reference-point dependence provides a reliable account of reinforcement learning behaviour in humans and rats. Despite these major similarities between species, some differences in behavioural and modelling parameters were observed. Overall, our study demonstrates that relative value encoding is a robust, conserved feature of reinforcement learning that is conserved across human and rat species. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Learning and memory Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files FergusonSoukupovaSuppRevisionFINAL.docx Supplementary information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6443873","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":543902393,"identity":"f36f2c14-90f6-4d83-99ba-f01b40dd2694","order_by":0,"name":"Stefano Palminteri","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5768-6646","institution":"ENS","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stefano","middleName":"","lastName":"Palminteri","suffix":""},{"id":543902394,"identity":"7c2e3ace-771e-4084-b7c5-616c147b5c76","order_by":1,"name":"Lachlan Ferguson","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4048-4137","institution":"University of Bordeaux","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lachlan","middleName":"","lastName":"Ferguson","suffix":""},{"id":543902395,"identity":"84231cf9-21bc-4d6d-8137-5dca682f0429","order_by":2,"name":"Magdalena Soukupova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"École Normale Supérieure - 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