Persistence and the importance of nonreward: Some applications of frustration theory and DMOD

Unfortunately our world does not always reward us when we expect it, and we must learn to deal with nonreward. How do these experiences influence our behaviors and how can we use them to help us? InFrustration Theory: An Analysis of Dispositional Learning and Memory (1992), Abram Amsel has answered these questions; he has summarized over 40 years of exciting research and the development of an elegant theory. He has also reviewed recent applications of frustration theory in such areas as fetal alcohol syndrome and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorders. In this invited commentary, we briefly summarize a mathematical model of frustration theory (called DMOD) and review simulations of the model that highlight the importance of the assumptions based on frustration theory (e.g., aversiveness of unexpected nonreward, counterconditioning). We also review assumptions (e.g., unlearning, passive and active “inhibition,” decline in aversiveness of expected nonreward) that are required if one is to simulate intuitive and counterintuitive phenomena.