On the processing of optimal performances: Studying arousal evoked by being correct and fast

Responses are optimal when they are accurate and fast. The present experiment investigated whether optimal responses evoke physiological arousal and whether performance affects the processing and evaluation of subsequent emotional material.

Participants performed a response-choice task, where feedback was a colored square reflecting performance quality or a face whose expression (happy or angry) did not indicate any aspect of performance. In the occurrence of an emotional stimulus, participants had to express a judgment about the emotional strength. The experiment focused on differences in the electrodermal and brain electrophysiological activities evoked by optimal (correct-fast) and suboptimal (correct-slow) responses, along with modulations on the processing and interpretation of facial emotions.

The results showed that, compared to correct responses, incorrect responses elicited an augmented phasic skin conductance response (SCR) and enhanced response-locked event-related potentials. Importantly, among correct responses, the SCR and the correct-related negativity (CRN) were larger for correct-fast than correct-slow responses. Performance also affected the processing of faces, irrespective of the emotion, but it did not change the subjective interpretation. The EPN evoked by angry and happy faces was less negative after optimal than suboptimal responses.

These results indicate that the monitoring system is sensitive to detect correct-fast responses, resulting in a state of physiological arousal that might guide the reinforcement of optimal performances.