Abstract
The present study investigates interactions between incentive valence and action, which mirror well-known valence-action biases in the emotional domain. In three joystick experiments, incentive valence (win/loss) and action type (approach/avoid) were signaled by distinct orthogonal stimulus features. By combining several design aspects, i.e., the use of bi-directional joystick movements, the inclusion of no-incentive baseline trials, and cue-locked versus target-locked valence and action signals, we tried to bridge between paradigms used in the emotional and motivational domain, and to understand previous, partly inconsistent results. In the first task variant (Experiment 1), we observed performance benefits for compatible mappings (win-approach; loss-avoid) relative to incompatible ones (loss-approach; win-avoid) when valence and action signals were target-locked, consistent with a fairly automatic response activation that can benefit or impair task performance. In contrast, cue-locked valence signals led to response facilitation (relative to a no-incentive baseline) more or less independent of actual valence (win/loss) and action type (approach/avoid), which is reminiscent of general facilitation effects of incentive cues across diverse cognitive tasks. Slight design variations did not change this main result pattern, indicating that it was neither driven by the close proximity between target and performance feedback (Experiment 2), nor by mere temporal coincidence of valence and action signals (Experiment 3), but rather by differences between preparatory (cued) and immediate (non-cued) effects of incentive valence. The present study provides novel insights regarding the nature of valence-action biases in the motivational domain and helps to integrate previous, partly inconsistent findings across domains.
Highlights
Reaching towards a tasteful cookie and backing off from a spider is easier than performing the opposite actions when facing these stimuli
We focused on the presence/absence of valence-action biases as indexed by an interaction between valence and action type, and in how far this interaction would be further modulated by the association with different trial events as indexed by a 3-way interaction with block type
The aim of the present work was to examine interactions between incentive valence and action requirements in a paradigm that bridges between existing studies in the motivational and emotional domain
Summary
Reaching towards a tasteful cookie and backing off from a spider is easier than performing the opposite actions when facing these stimuli. Valence-action biases, as indexed by performance facilitation of compatible mappings (positive-approach; negative-avoid), have been most prominently reported for innate emotional stimuli and events that have to be approached or avoided (e.g., Chen & Bargh, 1999; Krieglmeyer, Deutsch, De Houwer, & De Raedt, 2010; Phaf et al, 2014; Seibt, Neumann, Nussinson, & Strack, 2008). In these studies, the valence dimension (ranging from positive to negative) of emotional information is actively manipulated, while the arousal dimension (ranging from exciting to calming) along which emotional stimuli can vary as well (Kensinger & Corkin, 2004) is generally unchanged. In a series of studies, Guitart-Masip and colleagues found valence-action biases in an incentive Go/NoGo task, in that participants’ performance was improved in trials with
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