The influence of motivational incentives on error- and feedback-induced learning in children, adolescents, younger and older adults
Final Report Abstract
Learning via errors and feedback is an important prerequisite for adjusting our behavior to different situational demands. By processing feedback from our environment and our own errors, we learn how to behave adequately and goal-directed. For these learning processes, the midbrain dopaminergic system plays a crucial role because it continuously predicts events in terms of their hedonistic value and compares the actual events with these predictions. In phase 1 of the project, we examined the basic mechanisms and developmental changes in this learning process. We found that positive prediction violations are processed in a very similar manner as negative ones, i.e., errors and negative feedback. We also found that this learning mechanism is not yet mature in children and adolescents and that changes in this learning process in old age are tightly connected with impairments in working memory capacity. Based of the above results, phase 2 of the project aimed examining emotional and motivational influences on feedback processing across the lifespan. It was shown that emotional feedback supports the updating of working memory in older adults and can thus support learning performance. In contrast, younger adults only seem to use emotional feedback when they have free capacity to process it. Moreover, the aim was to investigate the influence of positive and negative incentives on feedback processing over the lifespan. Preliminary results indicate a reduced sensitivity to expectation violations in positive incentive conditions in young adults. Additionally, there are adjustments in the strength of working memory updating, suggesting that negative feedback weighs more heavily and positive feedback weighs less in the negative than in the positive incentive condition.
Publications
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Age-related Changes in Feedback Processing: Is there a positivity effect for older adults? Journal of Psychophysiology, 27, Supplement 1, p.19-20
Ferdinand & Kray
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Age-related changes in processing positive and negative feedback: Is there a positivity effect for older adults?. Biological Psychology, 94(2), 235-241.
Ferdinand, Nicola K. & Kray, Jutta
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Lernen auf Basis von Feedback: Gibt es Unterschiede zwischen Kindern und Jugendlichen in der Verarbeitung von positivem und negativem Feedback? Poster präsentiert auf der 21. Tagung der Fachgruppe Entwicklungspsychologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie, Saarbrücken
Becker; Ferdinand & Kray
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Lernen aus positivem und negativem Feedback: Altersbedingte Veränderungen und der Einfluss des Lernkontexts. Poster präsentiert auf der 21. Tagung der Fachgruppe Entwicklungspsychologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie, Saarbrücken
Dillinger; Ferdinand & Kray
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Developmental changes in performance monitoring: How electrophysiological data can enhance our understanding of error and feedback processing in childhood and adolescence. Behavioural Brain Research, 263(2014, 4), 122-132.
Ferdinand, Nicola K. & Kray, Jutta
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Different aspects of performance feedback engage different brain areas: Disentangling valence and expectancy in feedback processing. Scientific Reports, 4(1).
Ferdinand, Nicola K. & Opitz, Bertram
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ERP evidence for lifespan differences in feedback-induced learning: How the processing of positive and negative feedback changes from childhood to old age. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9(2015).
Nicola, Ferdinand & Jutta, Kray
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The influence of task complexity on the electrophysiological correlates of feedback processing in old age. In Bermeitinger, Mojzisch & Greve (Hrsg.), TeaP 2015: Abstracts of the 57th Conference of Experimental Psychologists. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers, p. 78
Ferdinand & Kray
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Feedback processing in children and adolescents: Is there a sensitivity for processing rewarding feedback?. Neuropsychologia, 82(2016, 2), 31-38.
Ferdinand, Nicola K.; Becker, Aljoscha M.W.; Kray, Jutta & Gehring, William J.
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Flexible Verhaltensanpassung: Das Zusammenspiel von Handlungsüberwachung und kognitiver Kontrolle bei der Optimierung von Verhalten und seine Entwicklung über die Lebensspanne. Habilitationsschrift für das Fach Psychologie an der Fakultät der empirischen Humanwissenschaften der Universität des Saarlandes
Ferdinand, Nicola K.
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Task complexity modifies feedback processing: High working memory demands make younger adults ‘look old’. In Martin (Ed.), 4th International Conference Aging & Cognition: Abstract Book (p. 34). Zürich: University of Zürich
Ferdinand
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Does social-emotional feedback diminish age-related learning impairments? In Schütz, Schubö, Endres & Lachnit (Eds.), TeaP 2018: Abstracts of the 60th Conference of Experimental Psychologists (pp. 71). Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers
Ferdinand
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Task complexity modifies feedback processing: High working memory demands make younger adults ‘look old’. In Martin (Ed.), 4th International Conference Aging & Cognition: Abstract Book (p. 34). Zürich: University of Zürich
Ferdinand
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The influence of task complexity and information value on feedback processing in younger and older adults: No evidence for a positivity bias during feedback-induced learning in older adults. Brain Research, 1717(2019, 8), 74-85.
Ferdinand, Nicola K.
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Emotional feedback ameliorates older adults’ feedback-induced learning. PLOS ONE, 15(4),e0231964.
Ferdinand, Nicola K. & Hilz, Melanie
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Learning from Emotional Feedback
Ferdinand
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Better or Worse than Expected? Differential Influence of Motivation on Feedback-Processing. In: Merz, Frings, Leuchtenberg, Moeller, Mueller, Neumann, Pastötter, Pingen, … (2023, June 21). Abstracts of the 65th TeaP (pp. 187-188). TeaP Conference 2023, Trier, Germany
Kläser & Ferdinand
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Show Some Emotion: Processing Of Feedback In Easy And Complex Learning Tasks – An ERP study. In: Merz, Frings, Leuchtenberg, Moeller, Mueller, Neumann, Pastötter, Pingen … Schui. (2023, June 21). Abstracts of the 65th TeaP (pp. 73-74). TeaP Conference 2023, Trier, Germany
Braunwarth & Ferdinand
