Revisiting the electrophysiological correlates of valence and expectancy in reward processing – A multi-lab replication

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Katharina Paul - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Douglas J. Angus - , Bond University (Author)
  • Florian Bublatzky - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Raoul Wüllhorst - , Chair of Clinical Psychology and Addiction Research (Author)
  • Tanja Endrass - , Chair of Clinical Psychology and Addiction Research (Author)
  • Lisa Marie Greenwood - , Australian National University (Author)
  • Greg Hajcak - , Florida State University (Author)
  • Bradley N. Jack - , Australian National University (Author)
  • Sebastian P. Korinth - , Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt am Main, Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA) (Author)
  • Leon O.H. Kroczek - , University of Regensburg (Author)
  • Boris Lucero - , Catholic University of Maule (Author)
  • Annakarina Mundorf - , MSH Medical School Hamburg (Author)
  • Sophie Nolden - , Goethe University Frankfurt a.M., University of Freiburg, Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Jutta Peterburs - , MSH Medical School Hamburg (Author)
  • Daniela M. Pfabigan - , University of Bergen, Vestfold Hospital Trust (Author)
  • Antonio Schettino - , Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE) (Author)
  • Mario Carlo Severo - , Leiden University (Author)
  • Yee Lee Shing - , Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Goethe University Frankfurt a.M. (Author)
  • Gözem Turan - , Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Goethe University Frankfurt a.M. (Author)
  • Melle J.W. van der Molen - , Leiden University (Author)
  • Matthias J. Wieser - , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Niclas Willscheid - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Faisal Mushtaq - , University of Leeds (Author)
  • Yuri G. Pavlov - , University of Tübingen (Author)
  • Gilles Pourtois - , Ghent University (Author)

Abstract

Two event-related brain potential (ERP) components, the frontocentral feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the posterior P300, are key in feedback processing. The FRN typically exhibits greater amplitude in response to negative and unexpected outcomes, whereas the P300 is generally more pronounced for positive outcomes. In an influential ERP study, Hajcak et al., (2005) manipulated outcome valence and expectancy in a guessing task. They found the FRN was larger for negative outcomes regardless of expectancy, and the P300 larger for unexpected outcomes regardless of valence. These findings challenged the dominant Reinforcement Learning Theory of the ERN. We aimed to replicate these results within the #EEGManyLabs project (Pavlov et al., 2021) across thirteen labs. Our replication, including robustness tests, a PCA and Bayesian models, found that both FRN and P300 were significantly modulated by outcome valence and expectancy: FRN amplitudes (no-reward - reward) were largest for unexpected outcomes, and P300 amplitudes were largest for reward outcomes. These results were consistent across different methods and analyses. Although our findings only partially replicate the original study, they underscore the complexity of feedback processing and demonstrate how aspects of Reinforcement Learning Theory may apply to the P300 component, reinforcing the need for rigorous ERP research methodologies.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)150-171
Number of pages22
JournalCortex
Volume184
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 39862559
ORCID /0000-0002-8845-8803/work/212488397

Keywords

Keywords

  • EEG, EEGManyLabs, ERP, FRN, Replication, Reward, RewP