Revisiting the electrophysiological correlates of valence and expectancy in reward processing - A multi-lab replication.

Sebastian P Korinth, Yuri G Pavlov, Faisal Mushtaq, Niclas Willscheid, Matthias J Wieser, Melle J W van der Molen, Gözem Turan, Mario Carlo Severo, Antonio Schettino, Jutta Peterburs, Sophie Nolden, Annakarina Mundorf, Leon O H Kroczek, Daniela M Pfabigan, Bradley N Jack, Greg Hajcak, Lisa-Marie Greenwood, Tanja Endrass, Raoul Wüllhorst, Florian Bublatzky, Douglas J Angus, Yee Lee Shing, Gilles Pourtois, Katharina Paul, Boris Lucero

Journal: Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior 2025;184():150-171

PMID: 39862559

Abstract

Two event-related brain potential (ERP) components, the frontocentral feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the posterior P300, are key in feedback processing. The FRN typically exhibits greater amplitude in response to negative and unexpected outcomes, whereas the P300 is generally more pronounced for positive outcomes. In an influential ERP study, Hajcak et al., (2005) manipulated outcome valence and expectancy in a guessing task. They found the FRN was larger for negative outcomes regardless of expectancy, and the P300 larger for unexpected outcomes regardless of valence. These findings challenged the dominant Reinforcement Learning Theory of the ERN. We aimed to replicate these results within the #EEGManyLabs project (Pavlov et al., 2021) across thirteen labs. Our replication, including robustness tests, a PCA and Bayesian models, found that both FRN and P300 were significantly modulated by outcome valence and expectancy: FRN amplitudes (no-reward - reward) were largest for unexpected outcomes, and P300 amplitudes were largest for reward outcomes. These results were consistent across different methods and analyses. Although our findings only partially replicate the original study, they underscore the complexity of feedback processing and demonstrate how aspects of Reinforcement Learning Theory may apply to the P300 component, reinforcing the need for rigorous ERP research methodologies.

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Address: Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].; School of Psychology, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia.; Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.; Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.; Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.; Department of Psychology and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University, USA.; DIPF, Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.; Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.; The Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center (CINPSI Neurocog), Faculty of Health Sciences, Catholic University of the Maule (UCMaule), Talca, Chile.; Institute of Systems Medicine & Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany; Institute of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; IDeA, DIPF, Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation, Frankfurt, Germany.; Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Endocrinology, Obesity and Nutrition, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.; Engagement and Research Services, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE), Sweden.; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.; Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.; Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.; School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.; Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.; Department of Experimental Clinical & Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
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