Intertemporal Pavlovian biases and links with mental health in the general population

Previous research has found the anticipation of immediate (compared with delayed) rewards to enhance instrumental approach behaviour and interfere with instrumental inhibition. This so-called intertemporal Pavlovian bias has been proposed as a mechanism contributing to impatient actions. In the present preregistered study, we aimed to replicate this intertemporal Pavlovian bias effect, and examined whether individual differences in the strength of this bias were associated with mental health symptoms characterized by increased or decreased intertemporal impatience. A sample of 389 participants completed an intertemporal go/no-go learning task, as well as questionnaires that assessed symptoms of alcohol use disorder, nicotine dependence, depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disordered eating, impulsivity, and body mass index. We replicated the intertemporal Pavlovian bias effect on the probability of go responding (a response bias), and reinforcement learning models again pointed to a Pavlovian cue-response bias as computational mechanism driving this effect. Contrary to our expectations, the response bias was not associated with mental health symptoms. We also observed an intertemporal Pavlovian bias effect on the vigour of correct go responses, with faster responses in anticipation of immediate rewards (a response time or RT bias). A stronger RT bias was associated with ADHD hyperactivity/impulsivity and nonplanning impulsivity symptoms, while a reversed RT bias (with faster incorrect go responses in anticipation of delayed rewards) was associated with eating disorder symptoms and total and motor impulsivity. Together, our results support the robustness of the intertemporal Pavlovian response bias and point towards the possible relevance of the RT bias for several mental health problems.