Applying electrophysiological methods to investigate the brain mechanisms involved in the processing of rewards, punishments, and performance feedback
| dc.contributor.author | Baker, Travis Edward | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Holroyd, Clay Brian | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2010-02-26T21:44:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2010-02-26T21:44:33Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2007 | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2010-02-26T21:44:33Z | |
| dc.degree.department | Dept. of Psychology | en |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science M.Sc. | en |
| dc.description.abstract | To elucidate the neural generator of the feedback error-related negativity (fERN), which is an event-related brain potential (ERP) component elecited following negative feedback, this study utilized a converging method approach by applying electrophysiological methods to replicate a reward task modeled after a functional magnetic resonance imaging, single-cell recording, and primate studies that activated the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with negative feedback. This study involved two ERP experiments. The first involved a replication of the reward task and the second experiment involved a modification of the reward task that separated the valence and instructional aspects of the feedback stimulus. Experiment 1 demonstrated that methodological issues can arise when using ERP methods to replicate a paradigm used in other neuroimaging techniques. Experiment 2 was conducted to control for these methodological issues. For experiment 2, the reward condition following a switch movement elicited a large N2 component, which consequently overlapped with the fERN. I concluded that if participants are incorrectly expecting negative feedback after switch trials, the `unexpected' positive feedback following the switch trails violated their expectation, thereby eliciting a large N2, and not a fERN. This hypothesis will be tested in several follow up experiments by modifying the paradigm in Experiment 2 so that all the possible combinations of condition mappings can be applied. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2280 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | en |
| dc.subject | reward and punishment | en |
| dc.subject.lcsh | UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Psychology | en |
| dc.title | Applying electrophysiological methods to investigate the brain mechanisms involved in the processing of rewards, punishments, and performance feedback | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |