title: Goal-directed EEG activity evoked by discriminative stimuli in reinforcement learning.
abstract: In reinforcement learning (RL), discriminative stimuli (S) allow agents to anticipate the value of a future outcome, and the response that will produce that outcome. We examined this processing by recording EEG locked to S during RL. Incentive value of outcomes and predictive value of S were manipulated, allowing us to discriminate between outcome-related and response-related activity. S predicting the correct response differed from nonpredictive S in the P2. S paired with high-value outcomes differed from those paired with low-value outcomes in a frontocentral positivity and in the P3b. A slow negativity then distinguished between predictive and nonpredictive S. These results suggest that, first, attention prioritizes detection of informative S. Activation of mental representations of these informative S then retrieves representations of outcomes, which in turn retrieve representations of responses that previously produced those outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicología Básica, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luque
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morís
authors.forename: Jacqueline A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rushby
authors.forename: Mike E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Le Pelley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive neuroscience; Event-related potentials; Feedback correct-related positivity; Goal-directed action; P2; P3; P3b; Reinforcement learning