SS3 - Your Brain on Grades: Neural Sensitivity to Graded Academic Feedback
SCURS Disciplines
Psychology
Document Type
General Presentation (Oral)
Invited Presentation Choice
Not Applicable
Abstract
Feedback-related negativity (FRN) is a fronto-central event-related potential (ERP) that emerges approximately 200–300 ms after feedback and is commonly associated with detecting outcomes that deviate from expectations. This component is typically followed by a P3 waveform (300–400 ms), which has been linked to reward processing and exhibits a centro-parietal distribution. The present study examined FRN and P3 responses using a novel three-tiered feedback paradigm that expanded traditional correct/incorrect feedback to include a “critically incorrect” category modeled after academic evaluations. Undergraduate participants completed a time-estimation task in which they attempted to indicate when one second had elapsed. Feedback was provided based on degree of inaccuracy in the form of academic letter grades (A+, C+, or F). Task difficulty was adaptively adjusted to ensure exposure to a range of feedback outcomes. ERPs were analyzed from a fronto-central region of interest (ROI) combining Fz and FCz for the FRN, and a parieto-occipital ROI combining Pz and POz for the P3. Planned comparisons examined differences between correct (A+) and incorrect (C+ and F combined) feedback, as well as between incorrect (C+) and critically incorrect (F) feedback. Incorrect feedback elicited a more negative FRN than correct feedback at the fronto-central ROI, and critically incorrect feedback generated a significantly more negative FRN than incorrect feedback. At the parieto-occipital ROI, correct feedback demonstrated a larger P3 amplitude than incorrect feedback, while no difference was found between incorrect and critically incorrect outcomes. These findings suggest that the FRN tracks graded levels of feedback deviation, whereas the P3 may primarily distinguish positive from non-positive outcomes. Future research will investigate how expectations and individual differences, such as susceptibility to stereotype threat, modulate neural responses to graded feedback.
Keywords
EEG, FRN, P3, Tiered Feedback
Start Date
10-4-2026 2:55 PM
Location
CASB 108
End Date
10-4-2026 3:10 PM
SS3 - Your Brain on Grades: Neural Sensitivity to Graded Academic Feedback
CASB 108
Feedback-related negativity (FRN) is a fronto-central event-related potential (ERP) that emerges approximately 200–300 ms after feedback and is commonly associated with detecting outcomes that deviate from expectations. This component is typically followed by a P3 waveform (300–400 ms), which has been linked to reward processing and exhibits a centro-parietal distribution. The present study examined FRN and P3 responses using a novel three-tiered feedback paradigm that expanded traditional correct/incorrect feedback to include a “critically incorrect” category modeled after academic evaluations. Undergraduate participants completed a time-estimation task in which they attempted to indicate when one second had elapsed. Feedback was provided based on degree of inaccuracy in the form of academic letter grades (A+, C+, or F). Task difficulty was adaptively adjusted to ensure exposure to a range of feedback outcomes. ERPs were analyzed from a fronto-central region of interest (ROI) combining Fz and FCz for the FRN, and a parieto-occipital ROI combining Pz and POz for the P3. Planned comparisons examined differences between correct (A+) and incorrect (C+ and F combined) feedback, as well as between incorrect (C+) and critically incorrect (F) feedback. Incorrect feedback elicited a more negative FRN than correct feedback at the fronto-central ROI, and critically incorrect feedback generated a significantly more negative FRN than incorrect feedback. At the parieto-occipital ROI, correct feedback demonstrated a larger P3 amplitude than incorrect feedback, while no difference was found between incorrect and critically incorrect outcomes. These findings suggest that the FRN tracks graded levels of feedback deviation, whereas the P3 may primarily distinguish positive from non-positive outcomes. Future research will investigate how expectations and individual differences, such as susceptibility to stereotype threat, modulate neural responses to graded feedback.