The influence of contextual factors on the subjective value of control

Unraveling the influence of trial-based motivational changes on performance monitoring stages in a flanker task

Performance monitoring (PM) is a vital component of adaptive behavior and known to be influenced by motivation. We examined effects of potential gain (PG) and loss avoidance (LA) on neural correlates of PM at different processing stages, using a task with trial-based changes in these motivational contexts. Findings suggest more attention is allocated to the PG context, with higher amplitudes for respective correlates of stimulus and feedback processing. The PG context favored rapid responses, while the LA context emphasized accurate responses. Lower response thresholds in the PG context after correct responses derived from a drift-diffusion model also indicate a more approach-oriented response style in the PG context. This cognitive shift is mirrored in neural correlates: negative feedback in the PG context elicited a higher feedback-related negativity (FRN) and higher theta power, whereas positive feedback in the LA context elicited higher P3a and P3b amplitudes, as well as higher theta power. There was no effect of motivational context on response-locked brain activity. Given the similar frequency of negative feedback in both contexts, the elevated FRN and theta power in PG trials cannot be attributed to variations in reward prediction error. The observed variations in the FRN indicate that the effect of outcome valence is modulated by motivational salience.

Intrinsic motivation for choice varies with individual risk attitudes and the controllability of the environment

When deciding between options that do or do not lead to future choices, humans often choose to choose. We studied choice seeking by asking subjects to first decide between a choice opportunity or performing a computer-selected action, after which they either chose freely or performed the forced action. Subjects preferred choice when these options were equally rewarded, even deterministically, and traded extrinsic rewards for opportunities to choose. We explained individual variability in choice seeking using reinforcement learning models incorporating risk sensitivity and overvaluation of rewards obtained through choice. Model fits revealed that 28% of subjects were sensitive to the worst possible outcome associated with free choice, and this pessimism reduced their choice preference with increasing risk. Moreover, outcome overvaluation was necessary to explain patterns of individual choice preference across levels of risk. We also manipulated the degree to which subjects controlled stimulus outcomes. We found that degrading coherence between their actions and stimulus outcomes diminished choice preference following forced actions, although willingness to repeat selection of choice opportunities remained high. When subjects chose freely during these repeats, they were sensitive to rewards when actions were controllable but ignored outcomes-even positive ones-associated with reduced controllability. Our results show that preference for choice can be modulated by extrinsic reward properties including reward probability and risk as well as by controllability of the environment.

The Protective Effects of Perceived Control During Repeated Exposure to Aversive Stimuli

The ability to perceive and exercise control is a major contributor to our mental and physical wellbeing. When faced with uncontrollable aversive stimuli, organisms develop heightened anxiety and become unwilling to exert effort to avoid the stimuli. In contrast, when faced with controllable aversive stimuli, organisms demonstrate behavioral vigor via avoidance attempts toward trying to seek and exercise control over the environment. As such, controllability confers protective effects against reduced avoidance motivation trigged by aversive environments. These observations beg the question of whether controllability can be potent enough to reverse passivity following repeated exposure to uncontrollable aversive stimuli and how this protective effect is encoded neurally. Human participants performed a Control in Aversive Domain (CAD) task where they were first subjected to a series of repeated uncontrollable aversive stimuli (i.e., aversive tones) across several contexts that were followed by a series of controllable aversive stimuli in a novel context. Faced with persistent uncontrollability, participants significantly reduced their avoidance attempts over time and biased toward giving up. However, the subsequent presence of controllability rescued participants' avoidance behavior. Strikingly, participants who responded more strongly to the protective effects of control also had greater ventromedial prefrontal cortical (vmPFC) activation-a region previously observed to be associated with encoding the subjective value of control. Taken together, these findings highlighted the protective effect conferred by perceived control against passivity and offered insights into the potential role of the vmPFC in controllable environments, with implications for understanding the beneficial influence of perceived control on adaptive behavior.