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Related Concept Videos

Hindsight Biases01:12

Hindsight Biases

Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies02:09

Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies

When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
Unrealistic Optimism Bias01:30

Unrealistic Optimism Bias

Unrealistic optimism bias is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes. This cognitive bias makes individuals believe they are less likely to experience failures, setbacks, or risks and more likely to succeed than others. For example, people may assume they are less prone to health issues, accidents, or financial struggles than their peers, even when they share similar risk factors.One key component of this bias is the above-average effect, where individuals perceive...
Motivational Bias01:25

Motivational Bias

Cognitive bias results from limitations in thinking and information processing, leading to systematic errors in judgment. Conversely, motivational bias stems from personal desires or emotions, causing distortions in perception to align with self-interest. Motivational bias influences how individuals perceive and attribute causes to events, often shaped by personal needs, goals, and self-esteem preservation. This bias can distort judgment, leading to inaccurate assessments of success, failure,...
Purposive Learning01:22

Purposive Learning

E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a bonus...
Self-Serving Bias01:29

Self-Serving Bias

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Related Experiment Video

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Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

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Published on: February 4, 2016

Reward positivity elicited by predictive cues.

Clay B Holroyd1, Olav E Krigolson, Seung Lee

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. holroyd@uivic.ca

Neuroreport
|March 10, 2011
PubMed
Summary

The reward positivity brain signal tracks reward prediction errors. This study shows it reflects both initial outcome expectations and later outcome appraisals during a gambling task.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Decision Making

Background:

  • A theory suggests reward positivity (RewP) reflects reward prediction error signals.
  • Understanding the neural basis of reward processing is crucial for deciphering decision-making mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the human event-related brain potential, reward positivity, functions as a reward prediction error signal.
  • To examine the role of reward positivity in processing both predictive cues and outcomes in a probabilistic learning task.

Main Methods:

  • Participants completed a gambling-like task with visual cues predicting rewarding or non-rewarding outcomes (80% probability).
  • Event-related brain potentials (ERPs), specifically reward positivity, were measured in response to predictive cues and outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Reward positivity was significantly larger for unexpected outcomes compared to expected outcomes.
  • Predictive cues also elicited a reward positivity, supporting the theoretical prediction.
  • These findings suggest reward positivity is involved in both initial expectation and subsequent appraisal of reward-related information.

Conclusions:

  • The reward positivity signal appears to encode reward prediction errors, reflecting both the anticipation and the evaluation of outcomes.
  • This research supports the role of reward positivity in evaluating success and failure during decision-making processes.