Electrophysiological correlates of hypothesis testing
1School of Psychology, Southwest University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.
Abstract:
Where and how the cortical areas are activated when a person receives the result of hypothesis testing is still unclear. By using a category induction task, this study provided participants with various batteries and asked them to learn which kind of batteries were charged. After learning, they were required to give a response to the probe stimuli. In each trial, two batteries were displayed sequentially, and a preliminary hypothesis could be formed based on the perceptual analysis of the batteries. Then, a third battery served to strengthen, reject, or maintain the former hypothesis was presented. The electrophysiological results revealed an increased late positive complexes when the hypothesis was rejected, reflecting a process of hypothesis evaluation and memory-context updating.
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