Abstract
Human behaviour is a trade-off between exploitation of familiar resources and exploration of new ones. In a challenging environment—such as outer space—making the correct decision is vital. On Earth, gravity is always there, and is an important reference for behaviour. Thus, altered gravitational signals may affect behaviour control strategies. Here, we investigated whether changing the body’s orientation to the gravitational vector would modulate the balance between routine and novel behaviour. Participants completed a random number generation task while upright or supine. We found decreased randomness when participants were supine. In particular, the degree of equiprobability of pairs of consecutive responses was reduced in the supine orientation. Online gravitational signals may shape the balance between exploitation and exploration, in favour of more stereotyped and routine responses.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by an Experimental Psychology Society UK grant and a European Low Gravity Association Research (ELGRA) Prize to E.R.F. M.G. is further supported by an ESRC-DTC studentship.
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IA performed experiments; MG, IA and ERF analysed data; ERF conceived and designed the research; ERF, MG and IA interpreted the results of the experiments; ERF and MG edited and revised the manuscript; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Gallagher, M., Arshad, I. & Ferrè, E.R. Gravity modulates behaviour control strategy. Exp Brain Res 237, 989–994 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05479-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05479-1