Abstract
Both real and hypothetical monetary rewards are widely used as reinforcers in risk taking and decision making studies. However, whether real and hypothetical monetary rewards modulate risk taking and decision making in the same manner remains controversial. In this study, we used event-related potentials (ERP) with a balloon analogue risk task (BART) paradigm to examine the effects of real and hypothetical monetary rewards on risk taking in the brain. Behavioral data showed reduced risk taking after negative feedback (money loss) during the BART with real rewards compared to those with hypothetical rewards, suggesting increased loss aversion with real monetary rewards. The ERP data demonstrated a larger feedback-related negativity (FRN) in response to money loss during risk taking with real rewards compared to those with hypothetical rewards, which may reflect greater prediction error or regret emotion after real monetary losses. These findings demonstrate differential effects of real versus hypothetical monetary rewards on risk taking behavior and brain activity, suggesting a caution when drawing conclusions about real choices from hypothetical studies of intended behavior, especially when large rewards are used. The results have implications for future utility of real and hypothetical monetary rewards in studies of risk taking and decision making.
Highlights
Understanding how people take risks and make decisions is a challenge for many disciplines such as economics, psychology, and neuroscience
No correlations were observed between the feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitudes and risk taking behavior during the balloon analogue risk task (BART) for both real and hypothetical reward conditions
In order to determine whether real and hypothetical monetary rewards modulate risk taking behavior and brain function in a similar manner, the present study used event-related potential (ERP) and examined both behavioral and brain responses to positive and negative outcomes from increased risk taking in a BART paradigm
Summary
Understanding how people take risks and make decisions is a challenge for many disciplines such as economics, psychology, and neuroscience. Using function magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neuroimaging studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the effects of real versus hypothetical monetary rewards on brain activation patterns during decision making. The BART is laboratory-based cognitive task originally developed by Lejuez and colleagues[21] to provide an ecologically valid model for the assessment of risk taking propensity and behavior During this task, participants are repeatedly given the option to continue or discontinue inflating a virtual balloon that could growing larger or explode (see Fig. 1). We used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure time-locked event-related potential (ERP) responses to risky decision making during the BART, in order to compare the effects of real and hypothetical rewards on risk taking behavior and brain activity. We hypothesized that BART risk taking would show larger FRN in response to negative feedback (i.e., money loss due to balloon explosion) during real monetary reward condition as compared to hypothetical reward condition
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