Assessing behavioural profiles following neutral, positive and negative feedback

Abstract

Previous data suggest zero-value, neutral outcomes (draw) are subjectively assigned negative rather than positive valence. The combined observations of faster rather than slower reaction times, subsequent actions defined by shift rather than stay behaviour, reduced flexibility, and, larger rather than smaller deviations from optimal performance following draws all align with the consequences of explicitly negative outcomes such as losses. We further tested the relationships between neutral, positive and negative outcomes by manipulating value salience and observing their behavioural profiles. Despite speeded reaction times and a non-significant bias towards shift behaviour similar to losses when draws were assigned the value of 0 (Experiment 1), the degree of shift behaviour approached an approximation of optimal performance when the draw value was explicitly positive (+1). This was in contrast to when the draw value was explicitly negative (-1), which led to a significant increase in the degree of shift behaviour (Experiment 2). Similar modifications were absent when the same value manipulations were applied to win or lose trials (Experiment 3). Rather than viewing draws as neutral and valence-free outcomes, the processing cascade generated by draws produces a complex behavioural profile containing elements found in response to both explicitly positive and explicitly negative results.