title: The impact of reward and punishment on skill learning depends on task demands.
abstract: Reward and punishment motivate behavior, but it is unclear exactly how they impact skill performance and whether the effect varies across skills. The present study investigated the effect of reward and punishment in both a sequencing skill and a motor skill context. Participants trained on either a sequencing skill (serial reaction time task) or a motor skill (force-tracking task). Skill knowledge was tested immediately after training, and again 1 hour, 24-48 hours, and 30 days after training. We found a dissociation of the effects of reward and punishment on the tasks, primarily reflecting the impact of punishment. While punishment improved serial reaction time task performance, it impaired force-tracking task performance. In contrast to prior literature, neither reward nor punishment benefitted memory retention, arguing against the common assumption that reward ubiquitously benefits skill retention. Collectively, these results suggest that punishment impacts skilled behavior more than reward in a complex, task dependent fashion.
authors: FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.|Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Steel
authors: Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
authors: Edward H
authors: EH
authors: Silson
authors: FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.|Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors: Charlotte J
authors: CJ
authors: Stagg
authors: Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
authors: Chris I
authors: CI
authors: Baker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D011678:Punishment; D011930:Reaction Time; D012201:Reward; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult