Nigbur, R. & Stürmer, B.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
It is still open whether improvements in cognitive control and performance monitoring are induced by positive or negative emotional states. Here, we investigated effects of appetitive and aversive motivation on the control of cognitive conflicts and error processing. We combined a Simon response conflict task in two different blocks with monetary gains and losses that were related to behavioral performance - so either the 25 % fastest responses were rewarded (reward block) or the 25 % slowest responses were penalized (punishment block). Feedback-related potential amplitudes confirmed appropriate processing of the feedback signal. To quantify selective inhibitory control of response conflict we analyzed block differences in performance via reaction time distributions. Enhanced online inhibitory control was observed in the reward but not in the punishment block. To assess error related block differences we analyzed the error-related negativity (ERN) and post-error-slowing (PES) which mirrors a shift of response threshold. ERN amplitude as well as PES were enhanced in the reward block compared to the punishment block. Our error-related results suggest that the recent reinforcement history determines current expectancy and modulates online performance monitoring. Furthermore, our results indicate that cognitive control is more flexible in positive contexts as compared to negative contexts.