Error monitoring under working memory load: An electrocortical investigation.

Error monitoring is essential for detecting errors and may facilitate behavioral adjustments that can reduce or prevent future errors. At times, error monitoring must occur while individuals are engaged in other, cognitively demanding tasks that might consume processing resources necessary for error monitoring. Here, we set out to determine whether concurrent working memory (WM) load interferes with error monitoring, as measured using event-related potentials, the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN), and error positivity (Pe).

Reinforcement learning and the reward positivity with aversive outcomes.

The reinforcement learning (RL) theory of the reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential (ERP) component that measures reward responsivity, suggests that the RewP should be largest when positive outcomes are unexpected and has been supported by work using appetitive outcomes (e.g., money).