Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Kobe, Japan.
PLoS One. 2022 Dec 1;17(12):e0277663. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277663. eCollection 2022.
In this study, the relationship between two types of feedback task difficulties and feedback-related brain potentials, such as feedback-related negativity (FRN), reward positivity (RewP), and P300, was investigated in social situations where participants performed a task simultaneously by a pair. The electroencephalogram activity was measured while participants answered four-choice questions with their partners. Participants were informed about the general accuracy rate of the question (objective task difficulty) before responding to the questionnaire. The feedback outcome was definitely correct when the participants had the knowledge to answer the questions correctly. Therefore, the subjective task difficulty depended on the knowledge of the participant and differed from the objective task difficulty. In the task, the participants selected the choice they deemed correct. Before checking the answers, participants responded to the preceding question's subjective task difficulty. As one of the social factors, the task consisted of two types of conditions: one, in which one's response affected partner's reward, and another, in which it did not. The second social factor was the order of feedback outcomes; in our experiment, these outcomes were presented sequentially to pairs of participants. The effects of subjective and objective task difficulties and social factors on feedback-related brain potentials were comprehensively analyzed. The study showed that subjective task difficulty sensitively modulated the amplitude of gain-related P300, suggesting that it is sensitive to modulation in the allocation of attentional resources to own feedback outcome. The objective task difficulty sensitively modulated the amplitude of RewP after receiving the partner's incorrect feedback outcome. RewP was more sensitive to positive affective valence, such as feelings of superiority over the partner, than to task-dependent rewards received by the participants themselves. In contrast, FRN was more negative in the joint condition than in the individual condition, suggesting sensitivity to social responsibility felt by participants toward their partners.
在这项研究中，我们探讨了两种类型的反馈任务难度与反馈相关脑电位（如反馈相关负波（FRN）、奖励正波（RewP）和 P300）之间的关系，这些脑电位是在参与者通过一对搭档同时完成任务的社会情境中测量的。参与者在与同伴回答四选一问题时，测量了脑电图活动。在回答问卷之前，参与者会被告知问题的总体准确率（客观任务难度）。当参与者有正确回答问题的知识时，反馈结果就是绝对正确的。因此，主观任务难度取决于参与者的知识，并且不同于客观任务难度。在任务中，参与者选择他们认为正确的选择。在检查答案之前，参与者会对之前问题的主观任务难度做出反应。作为社会因素之一，该任务包括两种条件：一种是参与者的反应会影响伙伴的奖励，另一种是不会。第二个社会因素是反馈结果的顺序；在我们的实验中，这些结果按顺序呈现给一对对的参与者。综合分析了主观和客观任务难度以及社会因素对反馈相关脑电位的影响。研究表明，主观任务难度敏感地调制了与增益相关的 P300 的振幅，这表明它对分配注意力资源到自身反馈结果的调制敏感。客观任务难度敏感地调制了在收到伙伴错误反馈结果后的 RewP 的振幅。RewP 对积极的情感效价（例如对伙伴的优越感）比参与者自身获得的与任务相关的奖励更为敏感。相比之下，FRN 在联合条件下比在个体条件下更负，这表明参与者对伙伴的社会责任感敏感。
