Assessing the N400 component via manipulation of reinforcement contingencies underlying equivalence relations: effects of using meaningful stimuli

• Grant number: 24/00440-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Salvador Caetano
• Grantee: Giovan Willian Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50909-8 - INCT 2014: Behavior, Cognition and Teaching (INCT-ECCE): relational learning and symbolic functioning, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/21967-1 - Contextual Control of Equivalence Classes Established through Stimulus Pairing, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The N400 is a neurophysiological measure sensitive to semantic relations between stimuli, including equivalence relations. This study aims to (1) investigate whether modifying reinforcement contingencies that underlie equivalence relations produces corresponding alterations in the N400 component and (2) assess whether the use of meaningful stimuli influences class resistance to these modifications. Thirty undergraduates will participate in the study. They will be divided into two groups: the ABS Group will only use abstract pictures; for the FACE Group, stimulus A1 will be a happy face and A2 will be an angry face. Both groups will be submitted to the same procedures. In the experiment's first phase, participants will learn AB (A1B1, A2B2) and AC (A1C1, A2C2) relations via matching-to-sample. Equivalence tests will then be administered to verify the emergence of BC (B1C1, B2C2) e CB (C1B1, C2B2) relations. After the tests, the N400 component will be assessed during priming tasks in which the participants will judge if stimuli A, B, and C are related. In the second phase, contingencies involving the AC relations will be reversed: selecting C2 will be correct when A1 is the sample; selecting C1 will be correct when A2 is the sample. The equivalence tests will be repeated to verify if the emergent relations were modified (B1C2, B2C1, C1B2, C2B1). Likewise, the priming tasks will be repeated to test if the N400 component was altered after the contingency reversal (first objective) and if the amplitudes differed between groups, which would indicate that stimulus meaningfulness can impact class modification (second objective).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE OLIVEIRA, MARLON ALEXANDRE; RIBEIRO, GIOVAN WILLIAN; COUTO, KALLIU CARVALHO; DE ROSE, JULIO C.. Sustainable behavior in the fishing cards digital game: a comparative analysis across extraction patterns. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, v. 16, p. 9-pg., 2025-04-09. (23/16500-4, 24/00440-5, 14/50909-8)