Aware Errors Research Articles

The Error Positivity Indexes Modality Non-specific Conscious Error Processing

Event Abstract Back to Event The Error Positivity Indexes Modality Non-specific Conscious Error Processing Shani Shalgi1*, I. Barkan1 and Leon Deouell2 1 Department of Cognitive Science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel 2 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Errors made by participants are indexed in the brain even if they are not consciously registered, as demonstrated by the Error Related Negativity (ERN/Ne) event related potential. It has recently been shown that another response-locked potential, the Error Positivity (Pe), follows the Ne, but only in those trials in which the subjects consciously detect making the error (“aware errors”). In the present study we generalize these findings to the auditory domain and show, within subjects, that the Ne and Pe behave in a similar fashion for auditory and visual errors. In an auditory Go/No-go Error Awareness Task (Auditory EAT) participants pressed an additional “fix error” button after noticing that they have made an error. As in the visual modality, the Ne was similar for aware (“fixed”) and unaware (“unfixed”) errors, while the Pe was enhanced only for aware errors. This data reinforces the evidence in favor of the Pe as an index of conscious error processing, and suggests that this process is modality non-specific. These findings establish the Pe as a potential tool in the study of response monitoring and consciousness in healthy and in neurologically impaired individuals. Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Turkey, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Response Monitoring and Error Processing Citation: Shalgi S, Barkan I and Deouell L (2008). The Error Positivity Indexes Modality Non-specific Conscious Error Processing. Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.319 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 10 Dec 2008; Published Online: 10 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Shani Shalgi, Department of Cognitive Science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, shanishalgi@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Shani Shalgi I. Barkan Leon Deouell Google Shani Shalgi I. Barkan Leon Deouell Google Scholar Shani Shalgi I. Barkan Leon Deouell PubMed Shani Shalgi I. Barkan Leon Deouell Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Absent minded but accurate: delaying responses increases accuracy but decreases error awareness

Previous work has suggested that conscious error awareness may fluctuate with levels of attention. Here, we explore this relationship by showing that error awareness can be impaired when exogenous support to attentional systems is reduced by decreasing task demands. Twenty participants performed a manual Go/No-Go response-inhibition task optimized to examine error awareness. In one condition (Immediate), participants were asked to respond as quickly and as accurately as possible to each Go stimulus, and in the other condition (Delayed) they were asked to time their responses to the offset of the stimulus, thereby decreasing task difficulty and imposing a more automated response set. As expected, speeding increased the error rate. However, contrary to the expectation (and to participants' subjective reports) that speeding would impair awareness of performance, we found the opposite to be true: errors were more likely to be unnoticed when the task was easier. We suggest that this tradeoff reflects two qualitatively different types of errors arising from the different cognitive demands of the Immediate and Delayed conditions. We propose that unaware errors reflect pure lapses of sustained attention and are therefore more susceptible to changes in task demands, while aware errors mostly reflect failures to inhibit responses, and are therefore most susceptible to increased response speed.

Neural correlates of error awareness

Error processing results in a number of consequences on multiple levels. The posterior frontomedian cortex (pFMC) is involved in performance monitoring and signalling the need for adjustments, which can be observed as post-error speed-accuracy shifts at the behavioural level. Furthermore autonomic reactions to an error have been reported. The role of conscious error awareness for this processing cascade has received little attention of researchers so far. We examined the neural correlates of conscious error perception in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. An antisaccade task known to yield sufficient numbers of aware and unaware errors was used. Results from a metaanalysis were used to guide a region of interest (ROI) analysis of the fMRI data. Consistent with previous reports, error-related activity in the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ), the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and the insular cortex bilaterally was found. Whereas the RCZ activity did not differentiate between aware and unaware errors, activity in the left anterior inferior insular cortex was stronger for aware as compared to unaware errors. This could be due to increased awareness of the autonomic reaction to an error, or the increased autonomic reaction itself. Furthermore, post-error adjustments were only observed after aware errors and a correlation between post-error slowing and the hemodynamic activity in the RCZ was revealed. The data suggest that the RCZ activity alone is insufficient to drive error awareness. Its signal appears to be useful for post-error speed-accuracy adjustments only when the error is consciously perceived.