Asymmetric Modulation of FRN by the Probability and Value of Outcomes in Auditory Mid Task

18 Pages Posted: 14 Dec 2016

See all articles by Elena Krugliakova

Elena Krugliakova

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Alexey Gorin

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Anna Shestakova

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) - Centre for Cognition and Decision Making

Tommaso Fedele

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Aleksandra Kuznetsova

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Vasily Klucharev

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Date Written: December 13, 2016

Abstract

Reward prediction error (RPE) reflects the discrepancy between received and predicted outcomes and therefore plays an important role in learning in a dynamic environment. Using electroencephalographic measures of response to obtained and expected outcomes, previous studies have suggested that feedback-related negativity (FRN) could code RPE. It has further been hypothesized that FRN should be sensitive to both the likelihood and magnitude of behavioral outcomes. Previous studies consistently demonstrated that FRN is sensitive to the probability of outcomes, while the evidence of its sensitivity to the magnitude of outcomes is less consistent. In neuroimaging studies, a monetary incentive delay (MID) task is often used to evaluate the dependence of feedback processing on the RPE’s sign and size. In this article, for the first time, we studied FRN’s sensitivity to the valence, likelihood, and magnitude of outcomes during a novel auditory version of an MID task. FRN demonstrated sensitivity to both the valence of an outcome (gain vs. omission of a gain) and its probability (high vs. low). However, we did not observe a modulation of FRN amplitude by the magnitude of the outcomes. We also found that subjects’ behavior was more susceptible to changes in the probability than to the magnitude of the outcomes. Overall, FRN seems to be a promising tool to study the learning mechanisms of decision making.

Keywords: feedback-related negativity, monetary incentive delay task, expected value, electroencephalography

JEL Classification: Z

Suggested Citation

Krugliakova, Elena and Gorin, Alexey and Shestakova, Anna and Fedele, Tommaso and Kuznetsova, Aleksandra and Klucharev, Vasily, Asymmetric Modulation of FRN by the Probability and Value of Outcomes in Auditory Mid Task (December 13, 2016). Higher School of Economics Research Paper No. WP BRP 67/PSY/2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2884755 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2884755

Elena Krugliakova (Contact Author)

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Alexey Gorin

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Anna Shestakova

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) - Centre for Cognition and Decision Making ( email )

Moscow
Russia

Tommaso Fedele

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Aleksandra Kuznetsova

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Vasily Klucharev

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

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