Open AccessBrain Activity Elicited by Positive and Negative Feedback in Preschool-Aged Children
Author(s) -
Xiaoqin Mai,
Twila Tardif,
Stacey N. Doan,
Chao Liu,
William J. Gehring,
Yue-Jia Luo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0018774
Subject(s) - negative feedback , arousal , positive feedback , valence (chemistry) , psychology , electroencephalography , negativity effect , developmental psychology , cognition , scalp , brain activity and meditation , young adult , audiology , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics , voltage , electrical engineering , anatomy , engineering
To investigate the processing of positive vs. negative feedback in children aged 4–5 years, we devised a prize-guessing game that is analogous to gambling tasks used to measure feedback-related brain responses in adult studies. Unlike adult studies, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) elicited by positive feedback was as large as that elicited by negative feedback, suggesting that the neural system underlying the FRN may not process feedback valence in early childhood. In addition, positive feedback, compared with negative feedback, evoked a larger P1 over the occipital scalp area and a larger positive slow wave (PSW) over the right central-parietal scalp area. We believe that the PSW is related to emotional arousal and the intensive focus on positive feedback that is present in the preschool and early school years has adaptive significance for both cognitive and emotional development during this period.
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