Detecting and correcting partial errors: Evidence for efficient control without conscious access

Abstract

Appropriate reactions to erroneous actions are essential to keeping behavior adaptive. Erring, however, is not an all-or-none process: electromyographic (EMG) recordings of the responding muscles have revealed that covert incorrect response activations (termed “partial errors”) occur on a proportion of overtly correct trials. The occurrence of such “partial errors” shows that incorrect response activations could be corrected online, before turning into overt errors. In the present study, we showed that, unlike overt errors, such “partial errors” are poorly consciously detected by participants, who could report only one third of their partial errors. Two parameters of the partial errors were found to predict detection: the surface of the incorrect EMG burst (larger for detected) and the correction time (between the incorrect and correct EMG onsets; longer for detected). These two parameters provided independent information. The correct(ive) responses associated with detected partial errors were larger than the “pure-correct” ones, and this increase was likely a consequence, rather than a cause, of the detection. The respective impacts of the two parameters predicting detection (incorrect surface and correction time), along with the underlying physiological processes subtending partial-error detection, are discussed.

Using Covert Response Activation to Test Latent Assumptions of Formal Decision-Making Models in Humans

“…The ANOVA revealed a main effect of trial type (F (1,11) ϭ 62.1, p Ͻ 0.001). Correct EMG bursts had a much higher amplitude compared with partial errors, consistent with previous work (Rochet et al, 2014;Burle et al, 2014). The interaction between trial type and congruency was also significant (F (1,11) ϭ 6.7, p Ͻ 0.05).…”

“…Therefore, it is unclear whether it can explain the congruency effect on partial error EMG surfaces and the strong positive correlation between partial error rates and EMG MTs. In addition, it has been shown recently that partial errors are consciously detected in only 30% of cases (Rochet et al, 2014). It remains to be determined whether a commitment to a choice can occur without conscious access (see Shadlen and Kiani, 2013, for a discussion about the links between evidence accumulation and consciousness).…”

Towards a refined mindfulness model related to consciousness and based on ERP

“…thoughts or emotions) and developing meta-awareness. Studies have revealed that only a third of partial errors 4 are consciously detected (Rochet, Spieser, Casini, Hasbroucq, & Burle, 2014). Our model suggests that mindfulness could improve the conscious perception of partial errors, and support their correction before they turn into overt errors.…”

A psychoengineering paradigm for the neurocognitive mechanisms of biofeedback and neurofeedback

“…If the correct response is provided by the subject, this means that the partial error has been identified and corrected, preventing an overt error. Rochet et al studied whether partial errors are consciously detected by subjects (Rochet, Spieser, Casini, Hasbroucq, & Burle, 2014), and they showed that less than one-third of partial errors were reported. Even if partial errors are not consciously detected, however, they are being corrected for before producing an overt error.…”