title: Reward positivity is elicited by monetary reward in the absence of response choice.
abstract: The neural response to positive and negative feedback differs in their event-related potentials. Most often this difference is interpreted as the result of a negative voltage deflection after negative feedback. This deflection has been referred to as the feedback-related negativity component. The reinforcement learning model of the feedback-related negativity establishes that this component reflects an error monitoring process aimed to increase behavior adjustment progressively. However, a recent proposal suggests that the difference observed is actually due to a positivity reflecting the rewarding value of positive feedbacks - that is, the reward positivity component (RewP). From this it follows that RewP could be found even in the absence of any action-monitoring processes. We tested this prediction by means of an experiment in which visual target stimuli were intermixed with nontarget stimuli. Three types of targets signaled money gains, money losses, or the absence of either money gain or money loss, respectively. No motor response was required. Event-related potential analyses showed a central positivity in a 270-370 ms time window that was elicited by target stimuli signaling money gains, as compared with both stimuli signaling losses and no-gain/no-loss neutral stimuli. This is the first evidence to show that RewP is obtained when stimuli with rewarding values are passively perceived.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Electronic Technology bInstituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), University of Málaga, Málaga cDepartment of Basic Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain dSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varona-Moya
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morís
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luque
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012201:Reward; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult