ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Speech and Language
Feedback-Driven Event-Related Potentials in Conditional Discrimination: Insights from a Matching-to-Sample Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Reykjavík University, Reykjavik, Iceland
- 2Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
- 3Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
- 4Department of Science, National University Hospital of Iceland, Reykjavik, Capital Region, Iceland
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This study examined differences in event-related potentials (ERP) associated with the presentation of programmed consequences during conditional discrimination training in a matching-to-sample (MTS) paradigm. Electroencephalography (EEG) data were continuously recorded from n=11 participants using a 64-channel wet-electrode system at a sampling frequency of 1024 Hz. Three-phase MTS training and testing were customized using PsychoPy and featured 12 arbitrarily related abstract stimuli explicitly designed for this study. EEG data processing and averaging were performed using ASA-Pro v. 4.10 using 0.5–40 Hz band-pass filtration and automatic artifact detection. Time-locked epochs for ERP analyses utilized a 1000-ms window with a 200-ms prestimulus baseline; epochs were synchronized with electronic trigger codes associated with incorrect or correct programmed consequences following comparison stimulus selection. The difference between incorrect and correct feedback on mean ERP amplitude was significant, t(10) = -2.93, p = 0.015, d = -0.88, with a mean amplitude difference of 3.89 𝜇V (95% CI: [0.93, 6.86]). The effect on mean ERP latency was also significant, t(10) = -5.46, p = 0.0003, d = -1.65, with a mean latency difference of 109.2 ms (95% CI: [64.7, 153.7]). ERP amplitude differences were further associated with Phase III test scores, t(10) = -3.14, p = 0.005, d = -0.95, while their association with latency differences was not significant, t(10) = 1.46, p = 0.161, d = 0.44. Altogether, these findings underscore the sensitivity of ERP measures to feedback presentation during an MTS paradigm, lending new insight into the cortical neurodynamics during the establishment of conditional discrimination.
Keywords: Conditional discrimination, EEG, Event-related potentials, Feedback, Learning, Matching-to-sample, Stimulus equivalence
Received: 08 Jan 2025; Accepted: 20 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Edmunds, Chu, Arntzen, Gargiulo and Steingrimsdottir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hanna Steinunn Steingrimsdottir
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