Abstract
We investigated the effect of punishment on performance monitoring by having participants perform a spatial Stroop task in both a non-punishment (i.e. control) and a punishment condition where they received one of two unpleasant noises (two 90 dB recordings of scratching a blackboard with nails) one second after an erroneous response. We examined both the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe) amplitudes across conditions as well as correlations among scores on the behavioral inhibition/behavioral activation system (BIS/BAS) scales, performance indices, ERN, and Pe amplitudes. Although the ERN amplitudes did not differ between conditions, Pe amplitudes was larger in the punishment condition than in the non-punishment condition. In addition, there were moderate negative correlations between Pe amplitudes and BAS scores such that individuals with higher BAS scores exhibited smaller Pe amplitudes in general regardless of the condition. The present results suggest that the punishment of unpleasant-noise increased awareness of errors and supports the notion that the Pe may represent evaluation of error responses.
