Abstract
Performance-contingent reward has repeatedly been shown to increase proactive control in simple response-priming paradigms like the AX continuous performance task (AX-CPT). Here, we aim to investigate whether this well-documented proactive shift under reward conditions is restricted to mere response preparation. To this end, the standard AX-CPT was modified in that the cue no longer allowed for ...
Abstract
Performance-contingent reward has repeatedly been shown to increase proactive control in simple response-priming paradigms like the AX continuous performance task (AX-CPT). Here, we aim to investigate whether this well-documented proactive shift under reward conditions is restricted to mere response preparation. To this end, the standard AX-CPT was modified in that the cue no longer allowed for response preparation only for rule preparation. In the first experiment, we showed that a sustained proactive shift under reward conditions as compared to a neutral control can still be found. Moreover, in a second experiment, the utility of the cueing information was reduced and turned into a priming information. This priming information was only useful but no longer necessary for task execution. The results of this second experiment show that reward expectation nevertheless promotes the usage of context information—here based on rule frequency and additional prime information. Taken together, the findings show that (1) the well-documented effect of increased proactive control under reward conditions is not restricted to mere response priming and that (2) the interaction of motivation and cognition does not depend on the distinction between cue and prime. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Altmetric