The error-related negativity (ERN) is a widely-used electrophysiological measure of error processing in the brain. Whether the ERN supports conscious awareness of erring has yet to be determined. Some researchers report no interaction between ERN amplitude and error awareness, while others report a strict dependence of ERN amplitude on error awareness. Methodologically, it is unclear whether differences in reporting error awareness and/or different task demands across studies can account for the extant discrepancies. For example, it is unclear whether differences in stimulus perceptibility can account for conflicting results alone. Theoretically, discoveries from within error-awareness research as well as the larger current paradigm for studying the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) have burgeoning implications for the phenomenology of erring. In order to address both methodological and theoretical problems with the literature on the electrophysiology of error awareness, this experiment used a novel visual search task. Results suggest that the ERN’s amplitude covaries with error awareness, and may be sensitive to the timing of subjective error sensations. However, due to a small sample size (n = 10) and in light of theoretical advancements of NCC research, the results obtained here are tentative. Suggestions for future research of the ERN and error awareness are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:his-18923 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Kaufman, Noah |
| Publisher | Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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