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<p>In animal research, reward-predictive cues shape behavior through Pavlovian conditioning, yet animals vary in the value they assign to these cues. Sign-trackers (ST) attribute both incentive and predictive values to the cues, orienting their attention to them, while&#xa0;goal-trackers (GT) assign solely predictive value, orienting their attention rapidly toward the forthcoming reward. Although most animal studies report sign-tracking and goal-tracking as stable, trait-like behavioral profiles, human research has produced inconsistent results, raising questions about the reliability and the stability of this behavior. To address these issues, we investigated the test–retest reliability and stability of the classification over a four-month period of the gaze index most frequently adopted in human sign-tracking and goal-tracking literature. Our findings revealed good stability for sign-tracking behavior, but limited consistency for goal-tracking behavior. These results raise the possibility that goal-tracking may be either genuinely rare in the population or poorly captured by the current index. Overall, while the gaze index holds promise for identifying sign-tracking behavior, methodological refinements or alternative approaches may be needed to more reliably detect these behaviors in future research.</p>

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Test–retest reliability of the gaze index for sign-tracking and goal-tracking

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月20日

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  • Marco Badioli,
  • Claudio Danti,
  • Luigi Degni,
  • Gianluca Finotti,
  • Valentina Bernardi,
  • Lorenzo Mattioni,
  • Francesca Starita,
  • Giuseppe di Pellegrino,
  • Sara Giovagnoli,
  • Mariagrazia Benassi,
  • Sara Garofalo

摘要

In animal research, reward-predictive cues shape behavior through Pavlovian conditioning, yet animals vary in the value they assign to these cues. Sign-trackers (ST) attribute both incentive and predictive values to the cues, orienting their attention to them, while goal-trackers (GT) assign solely predictive value, orienting their attention rapidly toward the forthcoming reward. Although most animal studies report sign-tracking and goal-tracking as stable, trait-like behavioral profiles, human research has produced inconsistent results, raising questions about the reliability and the stability of this behavior. To address these issues, we investigated the test–retest reliability and stability of the classification over a four-month period of the gaze index most frequently adopted in human sign-tracking and goal-tracking literature. Our findings revealed good stability for sign-tracking behavior, but limited consistency for goal-tracking behavior. These results raise the possibility that goal-tracking may be either genuinely rare in the population or poorly captured by the current index. Overall, while the gaze index holds promise for identifying sign-tracking behavior, methodological refinements or alternative approaches may be needed to more reliably detect these behaviors in future research.