"I will fix only my own mistakes": an ERP study investigating error processing in a joint choice-RT task

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Error monitoring and behavioral adjustment are crucial for performance optimization.
• Interpersonal error monitoring, where individuals track others' mistakes, is a developing area of research.
• Understanding the neural basis of shared performance and error processing is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate error monitoring and control adjustments in a joint choice reaction time (RT) task.
• To examine the neural correlates of interpersonal error monitoring using electroencephalography (EEG).
• To determine if monitoring a co-actor's errors influences subsequent performance adjustments.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed a joint choice RT task with external feedback on combined performance.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs) were analyzed, focusing on error processing (Ne/ERN, Pe) and feedback (FRN, f-P300).
• Behavioral data (RT, accuracy, post-error slowing) were compared based on own vs. co-actor errors.

Main Results:

• Participants exhibited post-error slowing only after their own errors, not their co-actor's.
• Error-related potentials (Ne/ERN, Pe) were modulated by own errors but not co-actor errors.
• Feedback-related potentials (FRN, f-P300) were larger following external feedback of a co-actor's error, yet this did not alter performance.

Conclusions:

• Individuals monitor both their own and others' errors, but only own errors trigger behavioral adjustments like post-error slowing.
• Neural responses differentiate between self-monitoring and other-monitoring of errors.
• Detecting a co-actor's error influences feedback processing but is insufficient to elicit behavioral change unless the outcome is perceived as negative and surprising.