What if I told you: "You were wrong"? Brain potentials and behavioral adjustments elicited by feedback in a time-estimation task

Recent theories have associated the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) with the arrival of an error signal in the anterior cingulate cortex (Holroyd & Coles, 2002). This error signal is generated when negative events occur, particularly when they are unexpected, and the anterior cingulate uses the error signal to select among appropriate courses of action. We evaluated these ideas by replicating and extending previous studies of the ERN following performance feedback in which subjects receive feedback after making a time-production judgment. In three different conditions, subjects received (1) correct or incorrect feedback, (2) correct, incorrect-slow, or incorrect-fast feedback, and (3) the same as condition (2), but with the graded incorrect feedback as a function of the degree of error. Behavioral data indicated that subjects adjusted their time-estimation as a function of feedback: following incorrect feedback in condition (2), they shortened or lengthened their judgments, and in condition (3) the amount of adjustment was related to the suggested degree of error. An ERN following negative feedback was present in all three conditions, being largest in the first condition. However, we did not find any relationship between ERN amplitude and behavioral adjustments. These results are discussed in terms of current theories on error processing