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Reinforcement learning – to adjust behaviors in response to feedback regarding reward and punishment – is pivotal to our survival. The present work investigated whether and how reinforcement learning is affected by thoughts of mortality that endanger one's survival. We recorded electroencephalographic while adults performed a probabilistic learning task that required a forced-choice between two visual patterns for monetary reward for different beneficiaries (i.e., self, stranger, or no one) followed by reward or no-reward feedback. We found that verbal reminders of mortality (vs. negative emotion) enlarged an early positive component (P1) at the occipital electrodes but decreased a late positive potential (LPP) at the frontocentral electrodes in response to learning stimuli. While no-reward feedback relative to reward feedback stimuli elicited a feedback-related negativity (FRN) and increased non-phase locked theta band (4–8 Hz) activity at the frontocentral electrodes during reward learning for all beneficiaries, verbal reminders of mortality (vs. negative emotion) significantly reduced the FRN amplitude but failed to modulate the theta band activity. These results suggest that mortality salience enhances early attentional processing but dampens late cognitive evaluation of the learning stimuli during reinforcement learning. Moreover, mortality salience decreases the neural sensitivity to feedback signaling the absence of monetary reward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research emphasizes the importance of social factors during performance monitoring. Thus, the current study investigated the impact of social stimuli -such as communicative gestures- on feedback processing. Moreover, it addressed a shortcoming of previous studies, which failed to consider stimulus complexity as potential confounding factor. Twenty-four volunteers performed a time estimation task while their electroencephalogram was recorded. Either social complex, social non-complex, non-social complex, or non-social non-complex stimuli were used to provide performance feedback. No effects of social dimension or complexity were found for task performance. In contrast, Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) and P300 amplitudes were sensitive to both factors, with larger FRN and P300 amplitudes after social compared to non-social stimuli, and larger FRN amplitudes after complex positive than non-complex positive stimuli. P2 amplitudes were solely sensitive to feedback valence and social dimension. Subjectively, social complex stimuli were rated as more motivating than non-social complex ones. Independently of each other, social dimension and visual complexity influenced amplitude variation during performance monitoring. Social stimuli seem to be perceived as more salient, which is corroborated by P2, FRN and P300 results, as well as by subjective ratings. This could be explained due to their given relevance during every day social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated cultural differences regarding social connectedness in association with social vs non-social comparison feedback. We performed electroencephalography in 54 Chinese and 49 Western adults while they performed a time estimation task in which response–accuracy feedback was either delivered pertaining to participants' own performance (non-social reference frame) or to the performance of a reference group (social reference frame). Trait interdependence and independence were assessed using a cultural orientations questionnaire. Applying a principal component approach, we observed divergent effects for the two cultural groups during feedback processing. In particular, Feedback-Related Negativity results indicated that non-social (vs social) reference feedback was more salient/motivating for Chinese participants, while Westerners showed the opposite pattern. The results suggest that Chinese individuals perceive a non-social context as more salient than a social comparison context, possibly due to their extensive experience of social comparisons in daily life. The reverse pattern was found in Western participants, for whom a social comparison context is less common and presumably more salient. The cultural differences in neural responses to social vs non-social feedback might be caused by culturally diverse cognitive traits, as well as by exposure to culturally defined behaviour on a systemic level—such as the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated whether or not the physical aspect of stimulus size has an effect on neuronal correlates of feedback processing. A time estimation task was administered applying three different feedback stimulus categories: small, middle, and large size stimuli. Apart from early visual ERPs such as P1 and N1 components, later feedback processing stages were also affected by the size of feedback stimuli. In particular, small size stimuli compared to middle and large size ones led to diminished amplitudes in both FRN and P300 components, despite intact discrimination between negative and positive outcomes in these two ERPs. In contrast, time estimation performance was not influenced by feedback size. The current results indicate that small size feedback stimuli were perceived as less salient and hence were processed less deeply than the others. This suggests that future feedback studies could manipulate feedback salience simply by presenting differently sized feedback stimuli, at least when the focus lies on FRN and P300 amplitude variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated whether the same visual stimulus indicating zero-value feedback (€0) elicits feedback-related negativity (FRN) variation, depending on whether the outcomes correspond with expectations or not. Thirty-one volunteers performed a monetary incentive delay (MID) task while EEG was recorded. FRN amplitudes were comparable and more negative when zero-value outcome deviated from expectations than with expected gain or loss, supporting theories emphasising the impact of unexpectedness and salience on FRN amplitudes. Surprisingly, expected zero-value outcomes elicited the most negative FRNs. However, source localisation showed that such outcomes evoked less activation in cingulate areas than unexpected zero-value outcomes. Our study illustrates the context dependency of identical zero-value feedback stimuli. Moreover, the results indicate that the incentive cues in the MID task evoke different reward prediction error signals. These prediction signals differ in FRN amplitude and neuronal sources, and have to be considered in the design and interpretation of future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Dual-process models of psychopathy postulate two underlying dimensions. [•] Fearless Dominance was associated with altered feedback processing. [•] Feedback-related negativity amplitudes were reduced. [•] Self-Centered Impulsivity was unrelated to feedback processing. [•] These findings provide further evidence for dual-process models of psychopathy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The feedback-related negativity (FRN) has been hypothesized to be most sensitive to unexpected negative feedback. The present study investigated feedback expectancy and valence using a probabilistic gambling paradigm where subjects encountered expected or unexpected positive and negative feedback outcomes. In line with previous studies, FRN amplitude reflected a negative reward prediction error, but to a minor extent also a positive reward prediction error. Moreover, the P300 amplitude was largest after unexpected feedback, irrespective of valence. We propose to interpret the FRN in terms of a reinforcement learning signal which is detecting mismatch between internal and external representations indexed by the ACC to extract motivationally salient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectancy and certainty regarding an outcome are important factors during performance monitoring. However, the separate contributions of expected and unexpected uncertainty on different measures of performance monitoring, including feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P300 components, are not well established. The current study investigated their relationship to fearless-dominance, a personality construct described by high social potency and low anxiety. Accurately predicting environmental outcomes in certain and uncertain situations might be a prerequisite of social potency, therefore it may be associated with increased performance monitoring and its ERP correlates. Consequently, expected-uncertain and unexpected-uncertain feedback (by violating previously learned certain and expected feedback) was introduced in addition to expected-certain feedback in healthy individuals during a probabilistic gambling task. In both FRN and P300 components, difference waves were more pronounced for unexpected-uncertain and expected-uncertain compared to expected-certain feedback. Moreover, more fearless-dominant individuals showed diminished feedback processing specifically in expected-uncertain trials, but concurrently enhanced attentional processing in expected-certain trials. These findings indicate adaptive and situation-appropriate utilization of performance monitoring resources in individuals with more pronounced fearless-dominance personality traits. The results indicate that a precise differentiation of expected and unexpected uncertainty in fearless-dominant individuals is mandatory in order to better understand the underlying personality construct and related behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]