Abstract
The present study investigated the influences of two different forms of reward presentation in modulating cognitive control. In three experiments, participants performed a flanker task for which one-third of trials were precued for a chance of obtaining a reward (reward trials). In Experiment 1, a reward was provided if participants made the correct response on reward trials, but a penalty was given if they made an incorrect response on these trials. The anticipation of this performance-contingent reward increased response speed and reduced the flanker effect, but had little influence on the sequential modulation of the flanker effect after incompatible trials. In Experiment 2, participants obtained a reward randomly on two-thirds of the precued reward trials and were given a penalty on the remaining one-third, regardless of their performance. The anticipation of this non-contingent reward had little influence on the overall response speed or flanker effect, but reduced the sequential modulation of the flanker effect after incompatible trials. Experiment 3 also used performance non-contingent rewards, but participants were randomly penalized more often than they were rewarded; non-contingent penalty had little influence on the sequential modulation of the flanker effect. None of the three experiments showed a reliable influence of the actual acquisition of rewards on task performance. These results indicate anticipatory effects of performance-contingent and non-contingent rewards on cognitive control with little evidence of aftereffects.
Highlights
In complex operational environments such as driving a car in a heavy traffic or operating an aircraft in air turbulence, momentary distraction of attention can lead to a fatal accident
The present study addressed this discrepancy between studies using the flanker task, focusing on the roles of anticipation and aftereffect of rewards in modulating cognitive control processes when rewards are contingent on task performance and when they are not
We focused on clarifying how rewards would affect the behavioral indices of cognitive control, such as response speed, the flanker effect, and its sequential modulation in three experiments
Summary
In complex operational environments such as driving a car in a heavy traffic or operating an aircraft in air turbulence, momentary distraction of attention can lead to a fatal accident. Studies have noted a role of the ACC in reward-related decision making (e.g., Bush et al, 2002; Hadland, Rushworth, Gaffan, & Passingham, 2003; Takenouchi et al, 1999) Consistent with this finding, a number of studies have demonstrated links between reward-related events and these cognitive control operations (Braem, Verguts, Roggeman, & Notebaert, 2012; Fröber & Dreisbach, 2014, 2016; Hefer & Dreisbach, 2017; Locke & Braver, 2008; van Steenbergen, Band, & Hommel, 2009, 2012), but the results of these studies are not entirely consistent. The present study addressed this discrepancy between studies using the flanker task, focusing on the roles of anticipation and aftereffect of rewards in modulating cognitive control processes when rewards are contingent on task performance and when they are not
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