Developmental differences in learning and error processing: Evidence from ERPs

Abstract

This study examined developmental differences in the ERP correlates of internal and external error processing (ERN and FRN) during learning. A probabilistic learning task was applied in which feedback validity was manipulated. The behavioral data showed similar accuracy for children and adults when feedback was valid, whereas age differences were obtained when it was partially invalid. We found no reduction of the ERN for children compared to adults when performance levels were equated. Yet, contrary to adults, children did not differentiate between responses when feedback was partially invalid, indicating that they are less able to represent the correctness of a response when there is interference during learning. Moreover, we found a larger FRN and reduced ERP learning effects for positive feedback for children, suggesting that they are more sensitive to external error feedback and less able to disengage from positive feedback during learning.