Examining the Neural Correlates of Error Awareness in a Large fMRI Study

Goal-directed behaviour is dependent upon the ability to detect errors and implement appropriate post-error adjustments. Accordingly, several studies have explored the neural activity underlying error-monitoring processes, identifying the insula cortex as crucial for error awareness and reporting mixed findings with respect to the anterior cingulate cortex. Variable patterns of activation have previously been attributed to insufficient statistical power. We therefore sought to clarify the neural correlates of error awareness in a large event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Four hundred and two healthy participants undertook the Error Awareness Task, a motor Go/No-Go response inhibition paradigm in which participants were required to indicate their awareness of commission errors. Compared to unaware errors, aware errors were accompanied by significantly greater activity in a network of regions including the insula cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and midline structures such as the anterior cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area. Error awareness activity was related to indices of task performance and dimensional measures of psychopathology in select regions including the insula, supramarginal gyrus and supplementary motor area. Taken together, we identified a robust and reliable neural network associated with error awareness.

SYNTACTICAL ERROR ANALYSIS OF EFL LEARNER IN CONVERSATION CLASS AT ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDY PROGRAM/ANALISIS KESALAHAN SINTAKSIS PEMBELAJAR BAHASA INGGRIS SEBAGAI BAHASA ASING PADA KELAS PERCAKAPAN DI PROGRAM STUDI SASTRA INGGRIS

The learner’s syntactical error analyses have long been interested in the second and foreign language researchers. This study aimed at investigating the syntactical error types, the form of error, and the frequencies of these errors that occurred in the sixth-semester student presentation on the conversation class at the English Literature Study Program in Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia. To achieve the objectives, the data were collected from the learner’s transcribed speech. The sampling of non-probability was used to select the classroom and participant’s characteristics. These data were collected by video recording, non- participant observation techniques, and documents. To classify the learner’s syntactical errors, Politzer Ramirez’s (1973) syntactical errors taxonomy was adopted. Further, the qualitative method was applied in this study. Based on the result of the analysis, there were 64 syntactical errors uttered by the learner. The results of the analysis were then categorized into three forms: phrases, clauses, and sentences. The results of this study showed that the learner often made the syntactical error in the form of sentences. That was 32 errors (50%). Furthermore, the study found that the amount of confusion was the most commonly uttered as the type of error (26,56%). The learner often got confused to make the right use between the number and the subject mentioned. Thus, the findings indicated that even though the learner considered as the best; yet the learner still possibly made some errors. Therefore, lecturers or instructors should raise the students’ syntactical error awareness. So that it could improve the student’ speaking skills in their level of English.Keywords: error analysis, syntactical error, conversation class, speaking skillsAbstrakAnalisis kesalahan sintaksis siswa telah lama menjadi hal yang menarik bagi peneliti bahasa kedua dan asing. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki jenis kesalahan sintaksis, bentuk kesalahan, dan frekuensi kesalahan tersebut pada presentasi siswa semester enam pada kelas percakapan di Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia. Untuk mencapai tujuannya, data dikumpulkan dari presentasi siswa yang telah ditranskripsikan. Sampling non-probabilitas diterapkan untuk memilih karakteristik kelas dan partisipan. Data tersebut dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan teknik perekaman video, pengamatan non-partisipan, dan dokumen. Untuk mengklasifikasikan kesalahan sintaksis mahasiswa, taksonomi kesalahan sintaksis Politzer dan Ramirez (1973) diadopsi. Lebih lanjut, metode kualitatif diterapkan dalam penelitian ini. Berdasarkan hasil analisis, terdapat 64 kesalahan sintaksis yang ditemukan pada presentasi siswa. Hasil analisis kemudian dikategorikan dalam tiga bentuk, yakni frase, klausa, dan kalimat. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa siswa sering membuat kesalahan sintaksis dalam bentuk kalimat, yakni 32 kesalahan (50%). Lebih jauh, penelitian ini menemukan bahwa ‘number of confusion’ merupakan jenis kesalahan yang sering diujarkan, yakni 26,56%. Pembelajar sering mengalami kebingungan dalam menggunakan antara nomor dan subjek yang disebutkan. Dengan demikian, temuan menunjukkan bahwa meskipun mahasiswa dianggap yang terbaik masih membuat beberapa kesalahan. Oleh karena itu, dosen atau instruktur harus meningkatkan kesadaran kesalahan sintaksis mahasiswa sehingga hal ini dapat meningkatkan keterampilan berbicara siswa di tingkat bahasa Inggris mereka.Kata kunci: analisis kesalahan, kesalahan sintaksis, kelas percakapan, keterampilan berbicara

The dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex bi-polar error-related potential in a locked-in patient implanted with a daily use brain–computer interface

While brain computer interfaces (BCIs) offer the potential of allowing those suffering from loss of muscle control to once again fully engage with their environment by bypassing the affected motor system and decoding user intentions directly from brain activity, they are prone to errors. One possible avenue for BCI performance improvement is to detect when the BCI user perceives the BCI to have made an unintended action and thus take corrective actions. Error-related potentials (ErrPs) are neural correlates of error awareness and as such can provide an indication of when a BCI system is not performing according to the user’s intentions. Here, we investigate the brain signals of an implanted BCI user suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS) due to late-stage ALS that prevents her from being able to speak or move but not from using her BCI at home on a daily basis to communicate, for the presence of error-related signals. We first establish the presence of an ErrP originating from the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (dLPFC) in response to errors made during a discrete feedback task that mimics the click-based spelling software she uses to communicate. Then, we show that this ErrP can also be elicited by cursor movement errors in a continuous BCI cursor control task. This work represents a first step toward detecting ErrPs during the daily home use of a communications BCI.

O039 Differential effects of sleep deprivation and sleep restriction on error awareness

Introduction The ability to detect and subsequently correct errors is important in preventing the detrimental consequences of sleep loss. We report the first study to compare the effects of total sleep deprivation (TSD) and sleep restriction (SR) on error awareness. Methods Thirteen healthy adults (11F, age=26.8±3.4y) underwent a 34h TSD protocol, completing the Error Awareness Task (EAT: a combined Stroop/1-back/GoNogo task) at 4h and 27h post-wake. Twenty healthy adults (11F, age=27.4±5.3y) were studied both well-rested (WR: 9h sleep) and following SR (3 nights of 3h sleep), completing the EAT once/day (8-9h post-habitual wake). The EAT required participants to withhold responding to “nogo” stimuli and signal, via a button press, whenever they realised they made an error on these nogo trials. Results TSD did not significantly affect error rate (p=.712) or error awareness rate (p=.517), however, participants were slower to recognise errors after TSD (p=.004). In contrast, SR increased error rate (p<.001), decreased error awareness (p<.001), and slowed recognition of errors (p<.01). Discussion Three nights SR impaired the ability to recognise errors in real-time, despite a greater number of errors being made. Thus, impaired error awareness may be one mechanism underlying increased sleep loss-related accidents and errors in occupational settings, as well as at home. Interestingly, 1-night TSD did not lead to more, or impaired recognition of errors. TSD participants were slower to recognise errors, which may be problematic in safety critical settings. Technological and/or operational solutions may be needed to reduce the risk of errors going unrecognised.

Effects of Trait Anxiety on Error Processing and Post-error Adjustments: An Event-Related Potential Study With Stop-Signal Task

The present study aimed to use event-related potentials with the stop-signal task to investigate the effects of trait anxiety on inhibitory control, error monitoring, and post-error adjustments. The stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) was used to evaluate the behavioral competence of inhibitory control. Electrophysiological signals of error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) were used to study error perception and error awareness, respectively. Post-error slowing (PES) was applied to examine the behavioral adjustments after making errors. The results showed that SSRT and PES did not differ significantly between individuals with high trait anxiety (HTA) and those with low trait anxiety (LTA). However, individuals with HTA demonstrated reduced ERN amplitudes and prolonged Pe latencies than those with LTA. Prolonged Pe latencies were also significantly associated with poorer post-error adjustments. In conclusion, HTA led to reduced cortical responses to error monitoring. Furthermore, inefficient conscious awareness of errors might lead to maladaptive post-error adjustments.

Conflict monitoring, error detection, and inhibition: behavioural and electrophysiological features

Event-related potentials of performance monitoring, including N2 (conflict monitoring), error-related negativity and error positivity (ERN and Pe; error monitoring), and P3 (inhibition) have been studied. However, conflict monitoring lacks a behavioural measure, and the functional significance of ERN, Pe, and P3 are debated. To address these issues, a behavioural measure of conflict monitoring was tested by subtracting the reaction time (RT) of a simple from a choice RT task to isolate conflict monitoring; the functions of error monitoring and inhibition were examined. The RT difference correlated with the N2 area (longer conflict monitoring related to a larger N2). ERN and Pe areas were negatively and positively correlated with errors, respectively. P3 magnitude and onset were correlated with an inhibition index. The new behavioural measure provides an accessible way to study conflict monitoring. Theories of conflict monitoring for ERN, error awareness for Pe, and inhibition for P3 were replicated and extended.

Conflict monitoring, error detection, and inhibition: behavioural and electrophysiological features

Event-related potentials of performance monitoring, including N2 (conflict monitoring), error-related negativity and error positivity (ERN and Pe; error monitoring), and P3 (inhibition) have been studied. However, conflict monitoring lacks a behavioural measure, and the functional significance of ERN, Pe, and P3 are debated. To address these issues, a behavioural measure of conflict monitoring was tested by subtracting the reaction time (RT) of a simple from a choice RT task to isolate conflict monitoring; the functions of error monitoring and inhibition were examined. The RT difference correlated with the N2 area (longer conflict monitoring related to a larger N2). ERN and Pe areas were negatively and positively correlated with errors, respectively. P3 magnitude and onset were correlated with an inhibition index. The new behavioural measure provides an accessible way to study conflict monitoring. Theories of conflict monitoring for ERN, error awareness for Pe, and inhibition for P3 were replicated and extended.

Confidence in action: Differences between perceived accuracy of decision and motor response

Each of our decisions is associated with a degree of confidence. This confidence can change once we have acted because we might start doubting our choice or even become convinced that we have made a mistake. In this study, we explore the relations between action and our confidence that our decision was correct or erroneous. Fifty-four volunteers took part in a perceptual decision task in which their decisions could either lead to action or not. At the end of each trial, participants rated their confidence that their decision was correct, or they reported that they had made an error. The main results showed that when given after a response, confidence ratings were higher and more strongly related to decision accuracy, and post-response reports of errors more often indicated actual errors. The results support the view that error awareness and confidence might be partially based on postaction processing.

The Role of Motivation and Anxiety on Error Awareness in Younger and Older Adults

Aging is associated with several changes in cognitive functions, as well as in motivational and affective processes, which in turn interact with cognitive functions. The present study aimed to investigate error awareness (EA), which declines with aging, in relation to motivation and anxiety. Adopting an experimental task, we firstly tested the hypothesis that EA could be enhanced through reward motivation. Secondly, we explored the relation between state and trait anxiety and EA, investigating the hypothesis of an association between EA and anxiety, and between anxiety and the potential benefit of motivation on EA. Thirty healthy younger (age range: 19–35 years; mean age 25.4 ± 5.1; 10 M) and 30 healthy older adults (age range: 61–83 years; mean age 69.7 ± 5.5; 12 M) took part in the study and performed both the classic Error Awareness Task (EAT) and one experimental task, called the Motivational EAT. In this new task, motivational incentives were delivered after aware correct responses and aware errors. For every participant, standard measures of state and trait anxiety and cognitive functions were collected. Confirming the presence of a significant age-related EA decline, results did not reveal any influence of reward motivation on EA, nor any relation between EA and anxiety. However, both younger and older adults had longer response times (RTs) and made more errors during the Motivational EAT, with the more anxious participants showing the greater RT slowing. Findings suggest that reward motivation might not be always beneficial for cognitive performance, as well as that anxiety does not relate to EA capacity. Results also recommend further investigation, as well as the assessment of EA in patients with either motivational deficits like apathy, and/or with anxiety disorders.