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According to a recent theory, anterior cingulate cortex is sensitive to response conflict, the coactivation of mutually incompatible responses. The present research develops this theory to provide a new account of the error-related negativity (ERN), a scalp potential observed following errors. Connectionist simulations of response conflict in an attentional task demonstrated that the ERN-its timing and sensitivity to task parameters-can be explained in terms of the conflict theory. A new experiment confirmed predictions of this theory regarding the ERN and a second scalp potential, the N2, that is proposed to reflect conflict monitoring on correct response trials. Further analysis of the simulation data indicated that errors can be detected reliably on the basis of post-error conflict. It is concluded that the ERN can be explained in terms of response conflict and that monitoring for conflict may provide a simple mechanism for detecting errors.

Previous research has shown that two components of the event-related brain potential, the P300 and feedback negativity, are sensitive to information about rewards and penalties. The present study investigated the properties of these components in a simple gambling game that required participants to choose between cards that were unpredictably associated with monetary gains and losses of variable magnitude. The aim was to determine the sensitivity of each component to two critical features of reward stimuli: magnitude (small or large) and valence (win or loss). A double dissociation was observed, with the P300 sensitive to reward magnitude but insensitive to reward valence and the feedback negativity showing the opposite pattern, suggesting that these two fundamental features of rewarding stimuli are evaluated rapidly and separately in the human brain. Subsequent analyses provided additional evidence of functional dissociations between the feedback negativity and P300. First, the P300 (but not the feedback negativity) showed sensitivity to the reward value of alternative, nonselected stimuli. Second, individual differences in the amplitude of the feedback negativity correlated with individual differences in risk-taking behavior observed after monetary losses, whereas individual differences in P300 amplitude were related to behavioral adjustments observed in response to alternative, unchosen outcomes.

According to a recent theory, anterior cingulate cortex is sensitive to response conflict, the coactivation of mutually incompatible responses. The present research develops this theory to provide a new account of the error-related negativity (ERN), a scalp potential observed following errors. Connectionist simulations of response conflict in an attentional task demonstrated that the ERN--its timing and sensitivity to task parameters--can be explained in terms of the conflict theory. A new experiment confirmed predictions of this theory regarding the ERN and a second scalp potential, the N2, that is proposed to reflect conflict monitoring on correct response trials. Further analysis of the simulation data indicated that errors can be detected reliably on the basis of post-error conflict. It is concluded that the ERN can be explained in terms of response conflict and that monitoring for conflict may provide a simple mechanism for detecting errors.

People are capable of robust evaluations of their decisions: they are often aware of their mistakes even without explicit feedback, and report levels of confidence in their decisions that correlate with objective performance. These metacognitive abilities help people to avoid making the same mistakes twice, and to avoid overcommitting time or resources to decisions that are based on unreliable evidence. In this review, we consider progress in characterizing the neural and mechanistic basis of these related aspects of metacognition—confidence judgements and error monitoring—and identify crucial points of convergence between methods and theories in the two fields. This convergence suggests that common principles govern metacognitive judgements of confidence and accuracy; in particular, a shared reliance on post-decisional processing within the systems responsible for the initial decision. However, research in both fields has focused rather narrowly on simple, discrete decisions—reflecting the correspondingly restricted focus of current models of the decision process itself—raising doubts about the degree to which discovered principles will scale up to explain metacognitive evaluation of real-world decisions and actions that are fluid, temporally extended, and embedded in the broader context of evolving behavioural goals.

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Research involving event-related brain potentials has revealed that anxiety is associated with enhanced error monitoring, as reflected in increased amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN). The nature of the relationship between anxiety and error monitoring is unclear, however. Through meta-analysis and a critical review of the literature, we argue that anxious apprehension/worry is the dimension of anxiety most closely associated with error monitoring. Although, overall, anxiety demonstrated a robust, “small-to-medium” relationship with enhanced ERN (r = −0.25), studies employing measures of anxious apprehension show a threefold greater effect size estimate (r = −0.35) than those utilizing other measures of anxiety (r = −0.09). Our conceptual framework helps explain this more specific relationship between anxiety and enhanced ERN and delineates the unique roles of worry, conflict processing, and modes of cognitive control. Collectively, our analysis suggests that enhanced ERN in anxiety results from the interplay of a decrease in processes supporting active goal maintenance and a compensatory increase in processes dedicated to transient reactivation of task goals on an as-needed basis when salient events (i.e., errors) occur.

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related brain potential observed when subjects commit errors. To examine whether the ERN is sensitive to the value of errors, the motivational significance of errors was manipulated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, low and high monetary value errors were compared to evaluate the effect of trial value on the ERN. In Experiment 2, subjects performed a flanker task both while their performance was being evaluated and during a control condition. Consistent with the notion that the error-detection system is sensitive to the significance of errors, the ERN was significantly larger on high-value trials in Experiment 1 and during evaluation in Experiment 2. There were no corresponding effects on the correct response negativity, and no behavioral differences between conditions were evident in either experiment. These results are discussed in terms of the functional role of the ERN in response monitoring.Descriptors: Motivation, Event-related potentials (ERPs), Error-related negativity (ERN), Ne, Value, Affect Effective action monitoring involves appropriate performance adjustments in terms of task demands, and a crucial component of this process is the ability to detect errors and adjust performance accordingly (Falkenstein, Hoormann, Christ, & Hohnsbein, 2000). Studies that measure response-locked eventrelated brain potentials (ERPs) have described fronto-centrally maximal negative components that appear relevant to response monitoring. Perhaps most notably, when subjects make a mistake, the response-locked ERP at fronto-central recording sites is characterized by a negative deflection known as the error-related negativity (ERN or Ne) that peaks approximately 50 ms postresponse (Falkenstein et al., 2000;Falkenstein, Hohnsbein, Hoormann, & Blanke, 1991;Gehring, Coles, Meyer, & Donchin, 1990; Gerhing, Goss, Coles, Meyer, & Donchin, 1993;Holroyd & Coles, 2002;Nieuwenhuis, Ridderinkhof, Blom, Band, & Kok, 2001).Because the ERN has been observed across different stimulus and response modalities, it is thought to reflect the activity of a generic response monitoring system (Bernstein, Scheffers, & Coles, 1995;Dehaene, Posner, & Tucker, 1994;Falkenstein et al., 1991Falkenstein et al., , 2000Holroyd, Dien, & Coles, 1998;Luu, Flaisch, & Tucker, 2000;Miltner, Braun, & Coles, 1997;Van 't Ent & Apkarian, 1999). Studies utilizing source localization suggest that the ERN is generated in the medial frontal cortex, most likely the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; Dehaene et al., 1994;Holroyd et al., 1998;Miltner et al., 1997).In addition to the ERN, a small negative deflection has also been observed in the response-locked ERP on correct trials. This correct response negativity (CRN) appears to have morphological and topographical properties similar to the ERN (Vidal, Burle, Bonnet, Grapperon, & Hasbroucq, 2003;Vidal, Hasbroucq, Grapperon, & Bonnet, 2000). Although the functional significance of the CRN is unknown, the similarities between the ERN and CRN suggest that both compon...