Ana Garcia

Advisor: Dr. Kimberly Kirkpatrick

Description of Research

Choosing among two or more options is a fundamental aspect of the daily lives of humans and animals. Choices often take the form of weighing different amounts of payoff at different delays. Conventional analysis of choice behavior has typically focused on delay discounting, whereby the value of an option is diminished as a function of wait time. Steeper rates of delay discounting result in faster depreciation of rewards, and this in turn leads to impulsivity whereby shorter delays are preferred. Steeper discounting rates are associated with drug abuse, gambling, impulsivity, and ADHD, so understanding the factors that are involved in delay discounting has potentially important mental health relevance.

In an effort to better understand the factors that affect discounting rates, researchers have begun to examine how choices (and delay discounting) are influenced by reward processing and delay perception. Reward processing most likely involves perception of the amount, type, and/or probability of reward whereas delay perception most likely involves timing systems. While much is known about these separate systems, relatively little emphasis has been placed on understanding how reward processing and timing interact in choice situations. This is the focus of my research.

My primary research interest focuses on the role of timing processes in determining choice in temporal discounting tasks and the interactions between timing and reward processing. I am also interested in examining the effect of pharmacological interventions on timing and choice behavior, and assessing the role of reward processing neural substrates in timing and choice paradigms. My undergraduate dissertation examined the performance of an animal model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in different timing tasks and in a risky choice procedure.

I am currently conducting my Master’s research under the supervision of Dr. Kimberly Kirkpatrick. We are investigating timing, reward processing and choice behavior in four strains of rats with different levels of impulsivity in discounting paradigms to determine the source of differences in levels of impulsivity. The combination of different techniques will allow us to greatly advance our understanding of the role of timing and reward processing in determining impulsivity vs. self-control.

Publications

Orduña, V., García, A., Menez, M., Hong, E., & Bouzas, A. (2008). Performance of spontaneous hypertensive rats in a peak-interval procedure with gaps. Behavioural Brain Research, 191, 72-76.

Orduña, V., García, A., & Hong, E. (2010). Choice behavior in spontaneously hypertensive rats: Variable vs. fixed schedules of reinforcement. Behavioural Processes, 84, 465-469.

Presentations

Orduña, V., García, A., Menez, M., and Bouzas, A. (2007). Peak-interval performance of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Poster presentation given at the joint meeting of the Experimental Psychology Society and the Psychonomics Society in Edinburgh, Scotland, July 4-7, 2007.

García, A., Menez, M., Orduña, V., and Bouzas, A. (2007). Performance of spontaneously hypertensive rats in a peak-interval procedure with gaps. Poster presentation given at the 30th annual meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior in San Diego, California, U.S.A. May 25-26, 2007.

Orduña, V., and García, A. (2009). Risky choice in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Poster presentation given at the 32th annual meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. May 21-23, 2009.

Garcia, A., and Kirkpatrick, K. (2010). Timing, reward processing and choice behavior in Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats. Poster presentation given at the 33th annual meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. May, 27-29, 2010.

Kirkpatrick, K., Ghormley, D., Guevara, M., Garcia, A., Sears, T., Hansen, B.C., and Loschky, L.C. (2010). Scene gist categorization in pigeons. Poster presentation given at the 33th annual meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. May, 27-29, 2010.

Education

B.S. - Psychology - National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), 2007