The temporal dynamics of how picture novelty influences conflict processing

Decision conflicts may arise when the costs and benefits of choices are evaluated as a function of outcomes predicted along a temporal dimension. When economic binary alternatives are offered in the present or in the future (e.g. Do you prefer 5€ now or 15€ in 120 days) people may show different decision strategies depending on how sensitive they are to the discounting effect of time. Electrophysiology studies suggest that during decision conflicts it is possible to record over the medial frontal cortex (MFC) a typical oscillatory activity in theta rhythm named midfrontal theta (MFϴ). Such activity may be an index of the processes underpinning top-down cognitive control. Tellingly, MFϴ appears associated with the temporal dynamics of different brain areas, thus operating as a synchronizer during the request of control. Although the correlational link between activity in MFC and MFϴ has been demonstrated, their causal relation with conflict processing has yet to be deeply explored. A methodological approach that may fill this lack of knowledge is represented by the application of alternating current over the brain areas under investigation. The transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) is an emerging, innovative technique that changes endogenous patterns of oscillatory activity by entraining neural networks acting on the behavioural performance in a frequency-dependent manner. In accordance with the Registered Report format, we propose a within-subject, sham controlled, cross-over study, in which we will explore the tendency to choose between economic offers during theta, gamma, and sham tACS, with the goal of modulating reaction times (RTs) and choice preferences when different levels of conflict, induced by combining specific delays and payoffs, occur. Hypothesis testing, sample size estimate and analysis of pilot results have been conducted using Bayesian statistics. We expect that our approach will advance the study of cognitive control and conflict processing during decision making.

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Nonlinear Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Chaos in Semiconductors

10.1017/cbo9780511524615 ◽

2001 ◽

Cited By ~ 136

Author(s):

Eckehard Schöll

Keyword(s):

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Spatio Temporal

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Effects of Monetary Incentives on Task Switching

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000146 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 216-226 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Thomas Kleinsorge ◽

Gerhard Rinkenauer

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Reward Processing ◽

General Level ◽

Monetary Incentives ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Expectancy Effect ◽

Reward Expectancy ◽

Trial Basis

In two experiments, effects of incentives on task switching were investigated. Incentives were provided as a monetary bonus. In both experiments, the availability of a bonus varied on a trial-to-trial basis. The main difference between the experiments relates to the association of incentives to individual tasks. In Experiment 1, the association of incentives to individual tasks was fixed. Under these conditions, the effect of incentives was largely due to reward expectancy. Switch costs were reduced to statistical insignificance. This was true even with the task that was not associated with a bonus. In Experiment 2, there was a variable association of incentives to individual tasks. Under these conditions, the reward expectancy effect was bound to conditions with a well-established bonus-task association. In conditions in which the bonus-task association was not established in advance, enhanced performance of the bonus task was accompanied by performance decrements with the task that was not associated with a bonus. Reward expectancy affected mainly the general level of performance. The outcome of this study may also inform recently suggested neurobiological accounts about the temporal dynamics of reward processing.

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