Loss is the new win: The reversal of feedback-related negativity (FRN) differences in response to goals

Poster Session D - Monday, April 15, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 1 - Saturday, April 13, 2024, 1:00 – 2:30 pm EDT, Ballroom East.

Eunchan Na¹ (eunchan@ualberta.ca), Ben Dyson¹; ¹University of Alberta

Asymmetrical effects of feedback valence during decision-making suggest that behavioural responses are more impulsive, inflexible, and predictable following a loss compared to a win. Feedback-related negativity (FRN) is a neural signature reflecting early feedback valence evaluation, generating larger (more negative) amplitude in response to losses compared to wins. However, these traditional results overlook the default goal of win maximization, where wins are goal-congruent and losses are goal-incongruent. We asked participants to play a binary response game across two separate goal conditions, where they tried to win (win maximization) or lose (lose maximization) as much as possible. Our manipulation of goal was successful in that behavioural responses following goal-congruent feedback (ie, win in win maximization and loss in loss maximization) were more consistent than goal-incongruent feedback. We observed an interaction between FRN amplitude and goal, whereby FRN was more negative for losses relative to wins during win maximization but more negative for wins relative to losses during loss maximization. These results suggest that both behavioural and neurophysiological responses to feedback can be flexibly redefined as a function of congruence or incongruence with the current goal state.

Topic Area: THINKING: Decision making