Open your eyes for prediction errors

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that autonomic arousal is increased following correct task performance on a difficult, relative to an easy, task. Here, we hypothesized that this arousal response reflects the (relative) surprise of correct performance following a difficult versus an easy task. Following this line of reasoning, we would expect to find a reversed pattern following erroneous responses, because errors are less expected during an easy than during a difficult task. To test this, participants performed a flanker task while pupil size was measured online. As predicted, the results demonstrated that pupil size was larger following difficult (incongruent) correct trials than following easy (congruent) correct trials, but smaller following difficult than following easy incorrect trials. Moreover, participants with larger congruency effects, and hence a larger difference in outcome expectancies between the two trial types, showed larger differences in pupil size after both correct and incorrect responses, further corroborating the idea that pupil size increased as a measure of performance prediction errors.

The Role of Anterior Cingulate Cortex in the Affective Evaluation of Conflict

“…Hence, if we follow this assumption that different congruency conditions automatically activate different outcome expectancies, which are affectively tagged, we can expect the same results as predicted by Botvinick (2007). First, the overall higher activation elicited by negative relative to positive pictures in the ACC/dmPFC can be related to the overall surprise to experience negative affect following a positive outcome expectancy elicited by the correct response (Aarts, De Houwer, & Pourtois, 2012; Alexander & Brown, 2011; Braem, Coenen, Bombeke, van Bochove, & Notebaert, 2015; Desmet, Deschrijver, & Brass, 2014; Silvetti et al, 2011, 2014; Wessel, Danielmeier, Morton, & Ullsperger, 2012). However, participants will also (implicitly) expect higher outcome expectancies on congruent than incongruent trials and thus show higher surprise reactions (i.e., negative prediction errors) whenever a negative event occurs during feedback presentation.…”

“…Conversely, the enhanced reaction to positive pictures following incongruent relative to congruent trials can be attributed to their lower outcome expectancy, and thus higher surprise reaction to this positive outcome (i.e., positive prediction error). In line with this idea, it has been suggested that in the absence of feedback, the correct response to incongruent versus congruent trials in and of itself could be experienced as more positively surprising or inherently rewarding (Braem et al, 2012; 2015; Schouppe et al, 2015). …”

Faces are special, but facial expressions aren’t: Insights from an oculomotor capture paradigm

“…One possibility is that outcome may depend on spontaneous fluctuations in attentional preparation linked to tonic activity in the locus coeruleus, as suggested by recent pupillometry studies in macaques (Ebitz, Pearson, & Platt, 2014;Ebitz & Platt, 2015) and in humans (Braem, Coenen, Bombeke, van Bochove, & Notebaert, 2015;Gilzenrat, Nieuwenhuis, Jepma, & Cohen, 2010).…”

Cognitive effort is modulated outside of the explicit awareness of conflict frequency: Evidence from pupillometry.

“…For instance, it has been shown that pupil diameter increases more in response to negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli (Snowden et al, 2016). In addition, pupil diameter has been shown to be larger following incorrect than correct responses during a flanker task, with the largest diameter following errors occurring on congruent stimuli, the least frequently committed error (Braem, Coenen, Bombeke, Van Bochove, & Notebaert, 2015). Braem and colleagues interpreted this as indicating that the affective experience of “cognitive surprise” may lead to control adjustments (Braem et al, 2015).…”