A Primer on Foraging and the Explore/Exploit Trade-Off for Psychiatry Research
Open accessAbstract
Foraging is a fundamental behavior, and many types of animals appear to have solved foraging problems using a shared set of mechanisms. Perhaps the most common foraging problem is the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards-the so-called explore/exploit trade-off. This trade-off has been studied extensively in behavioral ecology and computational neuroscience, but is relatively new to the field of psychiatry. Explore/exploit paradigms can offer psychiatry research a new approach to studying motivation, outcome valuation, and effort-related processes, which are disrupted in many mental and emotional disorders. In addition, the explore/exploit trade-off encompasses elements of risk-taking and impulsivity-common behaviors in psychiatric disorders-and provides a novel framework for understanding these behaviors within an ecological context. Here we explain relevant concepts and some common paradigms used to measure explore/exploit decisions in the laboratory, review clinically relevant research on the neurobiology and neuroanatomy of explore/exploit decision making, and discuss how computational psychiatry can benefit from foraging theory.
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In substance use or gambling addictions, the balance shifts toward exploitation over exploration.
“В сторону преобладания использования над исследованием баланс смещается при зависимостях от психоактивных веществ или азартных игр.”
From Когнитивные механизмы дисфункционального принятия решений при психических расстройствах (2025) · cites this paper as Addicott et al., 2017
The Conclusion says several studies suggest addictive disorders are associated with reduced exploration and increased exploitation, and the Psychiatry Research section reports greater exploitation in drug-dependent samples. But the paper does not establish this pattern for gambling addiction: its Conclusion reports that frequent gamblers made more exploratory choices, and frequent gambling is not necessarily gambling addiction. The claim therefore extends the substance-use finding to a group the cited evidence does not support. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPeople with substance use or gambling addictions overly rely on previous positive reinforcement, choosing an inflexible exploitation strategy and underestimating objective changes in conditions.
“Люди с этими расстройствами чрезмерно опираются на свой предыдущий опыт положительного подкрепления, выбирая негибкую стратегию использования и недооценивая объективные перемены условий (Addicott et al., 2017).”
From Когнитивные механизмы дисфункционального принятия решений при психических расстройствах (2025) · cites this paper as Addicott et al., 2017
The Conclusion (page not available) says studies suggest addictive disorders are associated with less exploration, more exploitation, and a preference for familiar, expected rewards. Psychiatry Research (page not available) also reports difficulty updating knowledge of the environment in methamphetamine-dependent participants. The cited passages do not establish this pattern specifically for gambling addiction or show that affected people underestimate objective changes in conditions. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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- Authors
- Addicott, M. A., Pearson, J. M., Sweitzer, M. M., Barack, D. L., & Platt, M. L.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Addicott, M A
- Venue
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- Published
- 2017-05-29
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1931-1939
- ISSN
- 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
- 1740-634X
- PMC
- PMC5561336
- OpenAlex
- W2616909309
- Cited by
- 219
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (K23DA039294, K01DA033347)
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (K01ES025442)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- foraging theory, explore-exploit trade-off, decision-making, motivation, outcome valuation, effort, risk-taking, impulsivity, computational psychiatry, neurobiology of decision-making, mental illness
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Appetitive Behavior, Mental Disorders, Brain, Decision Making, Exploratory Behavior, Humans, Psychiatry, Biomedical Research
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