Chunk #23 — Neurocognitive and Brain Functional Response Systems and Their Operational Relationships to the Undercontrol/Disinhibition Developmental Pathway
The second system is an incentive reactivity system; it is relatively automatic in that it does not require mental resources and operates rapidly. It responds to novelty or incentive cues for potential near-term reward or loss by interrupting behavior. Thus, a child may stop talking and actively study a stranger who has entered the room (a cue of novelty or uncertainty; Kagan & Snidman, 2004) or refrain when they see a warning that they are about to lose a privilege (potential loss of reward; Gray & McNaughton, 2000). The incentive reactivity system is distinguishable from primitive appetitive systems such as hunger or fear, which respond to actual reward or loss rather than to simply their signaled potential. The system stimulates high arousal panic or excitement (or freezing) rather than inhibition of previous behavior, and also activates attentional redirection and inspection of the novel stimulus (see Gray & McNaughton, 2000). The appetitive systems are related to the psychobiology of drug response and addiction after drug ingestion. Conversely, the incentive reactivity system activates excess incentive cue responding under conditions of experienced failure; thus it is a liability marker for drug problems.
