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On the Utility of Positive and Negative Feedback in a Paired-Associate Learning Task

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On the Utility of Positive and Negative Feedback in a Paired-Associate Learning Task On the Utility of Positive and Negative Feedback in a Paired-associate Learning Task Yael Arbel1,2, Anthony Murphy2, and Emanuel Donchin2 Downloaded from http://mitprc.silverchair.com/jocn/article-pdf/26/7/1445/1781451/jocn_a_00617.pdf by MIT Libraries user on 17 May 2021 Abstract ■ This study offers a neurophysiological examination of the of which presented the same set of 60 objects once. The rounds relationship between feedback processing and learning. A allowed the separation of the initial informative feedback in two-choice paired-associate learning task borrowed and modi- Round 1 from the other feedback stimuli in Rounds 2 and 3. fied from Tricomi and Fiez [Tricomi, E., & Fiez, J. A. Feedback The results indicated differences in the processing of initial in- signals in the caudate reflect goal achievement on a declarative formative and proceeding feedback stimuli. More specifically, memory task. Neuroimage, 41, 1154–1167, 2008] was em- the difference appeared to be driven by the change in the pro- ployed to examine the mediofrontal electrophysiological brain cessing of positive feedback. Moreover, very first positive feed- activity associated with the processing of performance feedback back provided in association with a particular new object was in a learning task and to elucidate the extent to which the pro- found associated with learning outcomes. The results imply that cessing of the initial informative feedback is related to learning signs of successful and unsuccessful learning may be detected outcomes. Twenty participants were tasked with learning to as early as the initial positive feedback provided in a learning correctly pair 60 novel objects with their names by choosing task. The results suggest that the process giving rise to the feed- on a trial-by-trial basis between two possible names and receiv- back-related negativity is sensitive to the utility of the feedback ing feedback about the accuracy of their selection. The novel and that the processing of the first informative positive feed- objects were presented in three blocks of trials (rounds), each back is associated with learning outcomes. ■ INTRODUCTION et al., 1997), in gambling tasks (e.g., Goyer, Woldorff, & Instructive feedback is an integral part of learning. It is Huettel, 2008; Hajcak, Moser, Holroyd, & Simons, 2007; provided in the school environment, at home, as well Gehring & Willoughby, 2002), as well as in learning tasks as in the work place. Feedback can serve different func- (e.g., Arbel, Goforth, & Donchin, 2013; Sailer, Fischmeister, tions. It may inform the learner of the correct or expected & Bauer, 2010; van der Helden, Boksem, & Blom, 2010; response when there is no other way of determining what Eppinger, Mock, & Kray, 2009; Krigolson, Pierce, Holroyd, that response should be. It may resolve uncertainty and & Tanaka, 2009; Pietschmann, Simon, Endrass, & Kathmann, facilitate learning when knowledge of the correct response 2008; Holroyd & Coles, 2002). The reinforcement learning is still not fully stored. It also informs the learner about theory of the ERN (Holroyd & Coles, 2002) suggests that this the extent to which learning is successful. Broadly speak- component is generated in ACC as a consequence of a phasic ing, feedback in a learning task changes its role from decrease in the activity of the mesencephalic dopamine being informative (guiding learning) to being increasingly system occurring when the monitoring system evaluates evaluative (assessing learning). The error-related negativ- events as worse than expected. It is also hypothesized that ity (ERN) is an ERP associated with error commission. It is this FRN signal is used by ACC for the adaptive modifica- elicited when participants make an erroneous response tion of behavior. It is still to be elucidated the extent to in speeded RT tasks (e.g., Gehring, Goss, Coles, Meyer, & which the FRN signal represents the process of evaluat- Donchin, 1993; Falkenstein, Hohnsbein, Hoormann, & ing performance (signals worse or better than expected Blanke, 1990) and when the fact that a response was erro- outcomes), the process of extracting information from neous is communicated by a feedback event (e.g., Miltner, the feedback to facilitate behavior adaptation (i.e., signals Braun, & Coles, 1997). The ERN elicited by feedback the utility of the feedback), or both. Learning tasks appear (namely feedback-related negativity[FRN] or fERN) is elic- optimal for the examination of this question. In gambling ited in time estimation tasks (e.g., Ferdinand, Mecklinger, tasks, in which responses are not learnable, feedback Kray, & Gehring, 2012; Gruendler, Ullsperger, & Huster, serves as a deliverer or denier of rewards. Its role can be 2011; Oliveira, McDonald, & Goodman, 2007; Miltner considered stable across the task. In learning tasks, however, the role of the feedback is fluid as feedback serves differ- 1Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, ent functions at different stages of learning. Therefore, 2University of South Florida learning tasks that capture the changing role of feedback © 2014 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 26:7, pp. 1445–1453 doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00617 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jocn_a_00617 by guest on 29 September 2021 can shed light of the functional significance of the FRN and ment of Psychology at the University of South Florida elucidate the extent to which the process(es) giving rise participated in this experiment. Participants reported to to feedback related ERPs is(are) related to the utilization be right-handed with no history of developmental dis- of feedback for task performance (i.e., the extent to which orders or any other neurological deficits. They received feedback is informative). Such learning task was designed course credit for their participation in the study. by Tricomi and Fiez (2008), who divided a paired-associate learning task into three rounds, each containing 60 pairs Task and Procedure presented once within each round. This design allowed Downloaded from http://mitprc.silverchair.com/jocn/article-pdf/26/7/1445/1781451/jocn_a_00617.pdf by MIT Libraries user on 17 May 2021 the separation of informative feedback (feedback pro- A two-choice paired-associate learning task was employed vided during the first round of trials) from evaluative in which participants were instructed to try to learn the feedback (feedback provided on the following rounds). names (nonword) of 60 novel objects. Participants were Their fMRI investigation displayed differences between presented with four blocks, which will be referred to as the processing of informative and evaluative feedback. “rounds” in this paper. ERPs were recorded during the first More specifically, they found an increased caudate ac- three rounds. During the first round, participantsʼ choices tivation and decreased left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were followed by positive and negative feedback of equal (DLPFC) activation as feedback changed its role from being probability (.5 positive, .5 negative). Therefore, associa- informative to becoming more evaluative (i.e., an “earned” tions between objects and names were determined during feedback), with minimal caudate and DLPFC activation this round (and were different for each participant) and differences between positive and negative when feedback were kept throughout the remainder of the experiment. is purely informative (feedback provided on Round 1). With 60 trials in each of the three rounds, the number of Their data indicated that it was the processing of positive positive and negative feedback presentations was identical feedback that was associated with the changes in DLPFC during the first round (30 trials during which positive feed- activation (Tricomi & Fiez, 2008) and with the relation- back was presented, and 30 trials with negative feedback). ship between caudate activation and learning outcomes The number of trials associated with positive and negative (Tricomi & Fiez, 2012). In a previous report, we demon- feedback during the following two rounds varied based on strated a relationship between the processing of positive individual learning speed. The fourth round served to eval- feedback as measured by the FRN and learning outcomes uate learning and to allow participants to complete a con- (Arbel et al., 2013). We found that the activity elicited by fidence rating scale for each of the 60 pairs. During each positive rather than negative feedback was association trial, participants were presented with a novel object ac- with learning outcomes. However, in this previous report, companied by two possible names. Participants were asked a four-choice paired-associate learning task was employed to choose one of the two names by pressing one of two in which positive feedback was more informative than buttons on a response box. Each response was followed negative feedback. In a four-choice task, a positive feedback by a performance feedback indicating whether the par- confirms the correct selection, whereas a negative feed- ticipant made the correct choice. Positive feedback was back implies that there are three other possible correct presented as “√√√,” and negative feedback was presented responses. In light of the differences in the information as “xxx.” Each of the 60 objects was presented once within carried by the positive and negative feedback, the rela- each round. tionship found between positive feedback and learning out- To evaluate the
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