Abstract:The ability to differentiate between rewards and losses is critical for motivated action, and aberrant reward and loss processing has been associated with psychopathology. The reward positivity (RewP) and feedback negativity (FN) are ERPs elicited by monetary gains and losses, respectively, and are promising individual difference measures. However, few studies have reported on the psychometric properties of the RewP and FN-crucial characteristics necessary for valid individual difference measures. The current … Show more
“…In other words, receiving acceptance feedback from a co-player after voting to keep that player, and receiving acceptance feedback after voting to kick that player out may represent distinct psychological processes. The limited number of trials in the present study, however, did not allow for sufficient data to evaluate a stable RewP in each of these conditions (Levinson, Speed, Infantolino, & Hajcak, 2017). …”
Reward processing is often considered to be a monolithic construct, with different incentive types eliciting equivalent neural and behavioural responses. The majority of the literature on reward processing has used monetary incentives to elicit reward-related activity; yet social incentives may be particularly important due to their powerful ability to shape behaviour. Findings from studies comparing social and monetary rewards have identified both overlapping and distinct responses. In order to explore whether reward processing is domain-general or category-specific (i.e., the same or different across reward types), the present study recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from early adolescents (ages 12-13) and emerging adults (ages 18-25) while they completed social and monetary reward tasks. Temporospatial principal components analysis revealed morphologically-similar reward positivities (RewPs) in the social and monetary reward tasks in each age group. In early adolescents, no significant difference was found between the magnitude of the RewP to social and monetary rewards. In emerging adults, however, the RewP to monetary rewards was significantly larger than the RewP to social rewards. Additionally, responses to feedback between the two tasks were not significantly correlated in either age group. These results suggest that both domain-general and category-specific processes underlie neural responses to rewards and that the relative incentive value of different types of rewards may change across development. Findings from this study have important implications for understanding the role that neural response to rewards plays in the development of psychopathology during adolescence.
“…In other words, receiving acceptance feedback from a co-player after voting to keep that player, and receiving acceptance feedback after voting to kick that player out may represent distinct psychological processes. The limited number of trials in the present study, however, did not allow for sufficient data to evaluate a stable RewP in each of these conditions (Levinson, Speed, Infantolino, & Hajcak, 2017). …”
Reward processing is often considered to be a monolithic construct, with different incentive types eliciting equivalent neural and behavioural responses. The majority of the literature on reward processing has used monetary incentives to elicit reward-related activity; yet social incentives may be particularly important due to their powerful ability to shape behaviour. Findings from studies comparing social and monetary rewards have identified both overlapping and distinct responses. In order to explore whether reward processing is domain-general or category-specific (i.e., the same or different across reward types), the present study recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from early adolescents (ages 12-13) and emerging adults (ages 18-25) while they completed social and monetary reward tasks. Temporospatial principal components analysis revealed morphologically-similar reward positivities (RewPs) in the social and monetary reward tasks in each age group. In early adolescents, no significant difference was found between the magnitude of the RewP to social and monetary rewards. In emerging adults, however, the RewP to monetary rewards was significantly larger than the RewP to social rewards. Additionally, responses to feedback between the two tasks were not significantly correlated in either age group. These results suggest that both domain-general and category-specific processes underlie neural responses to rewards and that the relative incentive value of different types of rewards may change across development. Findings from this study have important implications for understanding the role that neural response to rewards plays in the development of psychopathology during adolescence.
“…Unfortunately, the current task does not include enough trials to test this possibility. In addition, because participants’ voting behavior varied considerably across individuals and recent evidence suggest that approximately 10 to 15 trials are needed for a stable measure of RewP (Levinson, Speed, Infantolino, & Hajcak, 2017), the majority of participants did not have sufficient trials to reliably evaluate ERP responses to positive and negative feedback as a function of participant votes (e.g., more desirable vs. less desirable peers). Future work is needed to apply alternative statistical approaches or develop modified versions of this task that may provide insight into the effects of expectancy and participant votes on ERP measures.…”
Peer relationships play a major role in adolescent development, but few methods exist for measuring social processing at the neurophysiological level. This study extends our pilot study of Island Getaway, a task for eliciting event-related potentials (ERPs) to peer feedback. We differentiated ERPs using principal components analysis (PCA) and examined associations with behavioral and self-report measures in young adolescents (N = 412). PCA revealed an early negativity in the ERP enhanced for rejection feedback, followed by a series of positivities (consistent with reward positivity [RewP], P300, and late positive potential) that were enhanced for acceptance feedback. Greater self-reported task engagement correlated with a larger RewP to acceptance and lower rates of rejecting peers. Youth higher in depressive symptoms exhibited a blunted RewP to social acceptance and reported lower engagement. Results highlight ERP components sensitive to peer feedback that may inform understanding of social processes relevant to typical and atypical development.
“…Attention bias measures have notoriously poor psychometric properties (Cisler, Bacon, & Williams, 2009; Price et al, 2015; Rodebaugh et al, 2016), and it is possible that unreliability in the measurement of attention bias may at least partially contribute to these discrepant findings. It is important to note that the present study utilized a regression-based approach for examining change in attention bias, and this analytic approach generally does not attenuate the reliability of a measure to the same degree as difference scores (Levinson, Speed, Infantolino, & Hajcak, 2017; Meyer, Lerner, Reyes, Laird, & Hajcak, 2017). Therefore, it is possible that other factors beyond poor psychometric properties may have influenced the pattern of results.…”
The error-related negativity (ERN) is an electrophysiological response to errors. Individual differences in the ERN have been posited to reflect sensitivity to threat and linked with risk for anxiety disorders. Attention bias modification is a promising computerized intervention that has been shown to decrease threat biases and anxiety symptoms. In the present study, we examined the impact of a single session of attention bias modification, relative to a control task, on the neural correlates of response monitoring, including the ERN, correct response negativity (CRN), and their difference (i.e., the ERN – CRN or ΔERN). The final sample included 60 participants who first completed a flanker task to elicit the ERN and CRN, and were then randomly assigned to attention bias modification (n = 30) or a control task (n = 30). After completing the attention bias modification or control task, participants completed the same flanker task to again elicit the ERN and CRN. Among participants who completed attention bias modification training, the ERN, CRN, and ΔERN decreased from the pre- to post-training assessment. In contrast, in participants who completed the control task, the CRN, ERN, and ΔERN did not differ between the pre- and post-training assessment. The presents study suggests that a single session of attention bias modification reduces neural correlates of response monitoring, including error-related brain activity. These results also support attention bias modification as a potential mechanistic-based intervention for the prevention and treatment of anxiety pathology.
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