Evaluating individual differences in rewarded Stroop performance: reliability and associations with self-report...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Reward sensitivity is a key individual difference influencing decision-making.
• Existing measures of reward sensitivity include self-report questionnaires and behavioral tasks.
• The reliability and validity of these different measures are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the reliability of self-report and behavioral measures of reward sensitivity.
• To investigate the relationship between self-report and behavioral measures of reward sensitivity.
• To explore the construct validity of the rewarded Stroop task.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments utilized a rewarded Stroop task to assess reward sensitivity.
• Behavioral response time data were collected to measure task performance.
• Self-report questionnaires assessed reward sensitivity and self-control.

Main Results:

• Individual differences in task-irrelevant reward interference (MIRA) were unreliable.
• Individual differences in performance benefits from task-relevant rewards were highly reliable, even over a year.
• Reliable behavioral reward responsiveness did not correlate with self-reported reward sensitivity but correlated positively with self-control.

Conclusions:

• The rewarded Stroop task, specifically performance benefits from task-relevant rewards, provides a reliable behavioral measure of reward responsiveness.
• Self-report measures of reward sensitivity may not capture the same construct as reliable behavioral measures.
• Self-control may be a more relevant correlate of behavioral reward responsiveness than self-reported reward sensitivity.