CAREER: Neural Investigations of Feedback-based Learning

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Performance-based feedback is widely used to aid learning by providing information about response accuracy. In addition to this informational role, feedback also plays an important motivational role. Earning the reward of positive feedback and avoiding the punishment of negative feedback can become salient goals to motivated learning. With the support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Elizabeth Tricomi of Rutgers University is investigating how the motivational significance of feedback influences neural processing and consequent learning. She is conducting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of learning from positive and negative feedback. One set of experiments is investigating how the amount of cognitive effort expended on a learning task influences feedback-related brain signals. A second set of experiments is investigating how motivational factors may differentially affect positive and negative feedback signals in the brain, and how this affects the relative contributions of learning from errors and from positive reinforcement. Changes in motivation to learn or to perform well may change the value that learners place on the feedback they receive. Therefore, the results of these studies will provide insight into how motivation influences value-related neural activity in the brain's "reward circuit," and how this brain activity may in turn influence the amount learned from the feedback.In trying to understand how to best tailor educational practices to the needs of the individual, a variety of influences on learning and performance other than ability need to be considered. Because motivation is one key factor in determining how successfully information will be acquired and used, understanding the neural mechanisms by which motivation influences learning processes is important. This project is providing a significant advance in our current understanding of how the motivational and informational components of feedback combine to facilitate learning. The results are expected to have implications for educational practices, in the classroom and beyond. In addition to the research component of the project, an educational component incorporates effective teaching and learning strategies, such as student-centered learning, into the classroom at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Furthermore, a monthly professional development workshop for graduate students is promoting the retention of women in the sciences.