Transdiagnostic factors differentially shape choices and reaction times in social evaluative learning
Abstract
Background Learning from feedback provided by others is important for navigating complex social environments. Aberrant processing of such social feedback is implicated in the psychopathology of several mental health disorders including social anxiety and depression. Recent psychiatric research increasingly adopts transdiagnostic approaches that examine mechanisms and constructs cutting across traditional diagnostic categories.
Methods Here, we applied reinforcement learning models together with transdiagnostic measures of psychopathology to formally assess social evaluation learning. Human participants (n = 193) completed the Social Evaluation Learning Task, learning whether computer personas ‘liked,’ ‘disliked,’ or were ‘neutral’ toward them. Participants also completed six questionnaires assessing socially relevant psychiatric traits.
Results Computational modeling revealed that a model with separate learning parameters for positive and negative feedback best accounted for the learning behavior. Exploratory factor analysis identified three transdiagnostic factors. A factor reflecting social avoidance predicted enhanced learning from negative feedback and a reduced positive learning bias. Socially avoidant individuals with heightened negative learning rates additionally showed faster reaction times specifically in positive social contexts. A second factor linking with emotional insensitivity for others predicted a lower choice accuracy in both positively and negatively valanced conditions and was associated with faster reaction times overall. No significant associations emerged for a third factor reflecting depressive and mood-related symptoms.
Conclusions These results demonstrate how transdiagnostic trait dimensions shape social learning mechanisms through specific behavioral and computational processes.
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BibTeX
@misc{sohail2026transdiagnostic,
title = {{Transdiagnostic factors differentially shape choices and reaction times in social evaluative learning}},
author = {Aamir Sohail and Aleksandra Magda and Muna Said and Laura Phillips and Yifei Lu and Georgina Reynolds and Alice Comer-Fenn and Jessie Russell and Huafeng Lu and Tally Sims},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/svbfw_v3},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/svbfw_v3/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Transdiagnostic factors differentially shape choices and reaction times in social evaluative learning
AU - Aamir Sohail
AU - Aleksandra Magda
AU - Muna Said
AU - Laura Phillips
AU - Yifei Lu
AU - Georgina Reynolds
AU - Alice Comer-Fenn
AU - Jessie Russell
AU - Huafeng Lu
AU - Tally Sims
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/svbfw_v3
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/svbfw_v3/
AB - Background Learning from feedback provided by others is important for navigating complex social environments. Aberrant processing of such social feedback is implicated in the psychopathology of several mental health disorders including social anxiety and depression. Recent psychiatric research increasingly adopts transdiagnostic approaches that examine mechanisms and constructs cutting across traditional diagnostic categories. Methods Here, we applied reinforcement learning models together with transdiagnostic measures of psychopathology to formally assess social evaluation learning. Human participants (n = 193) completed the Social Evaluation Learning Task, learning whether computer personas ‘liked,’ ‘disliked,’ or were ‘neutral’ toward them. Participants also completed six questionnaires assessing socially relevant psychiatric traits. Results Computational modeling revealed that a model with separate learning parameters for positive and negative feedback best accounted for the learning behavior. Exploratory factor analysis identified three transdiagnostic factors. A factor reflecting social avoidance predicted enhanced learning from negative feedback and a reduced positive learning bias. Socially avoidant individuals with heightened negative learning rates additionally showed faster reaction times specifically in positive social contexts. A second factor linking with emotional insensitivity for others predicted a lower choice accuracy in both positively and negatively valanced conditions and was associated with faster reaction times overall. No significant associations emerged for a third factor reflecting depressive and mood-related symptoms. Conclusions These results demonstrate how transdiagnostic trait dimensions shape social learning mechanisms through specific behavioral and computational processes.
ER -