Neural Regions that Underlie Reinforcement Learning Also Engage in Social Expectancy Violations

摘要

Prediction error, the difference between an expected and actual outcome, serves as a learning signal that interacts with reward and punishment value to direct future behavior during reinforcement learning. We hypothesized that similar learning and valuation signals may underlie social expectancy violations. Here, we explore the neural correlates of social expectancy violation signals along the universal person-perception dimensions of trait warmth and competence. In this context, social learning may result from expectancy violations that occur when a target is inconsistent with an a priori schema. Expectancy violation may activate neural regions normally implicated in prediction error and valuation during appetitive and aversive conditioning. Using fMRI, we first gave perceivers warmth or competence behavioral information. Participants then saw pictures of people responsible for the behavior; they represented social groups either inconsistent (rated low on either warmth or competence) or consistent (rated high on either warmth or competence) with the behavior information. Warmth and competence expectancy violations activate striatal regions and frontal cortex respectively, areas that represent evaluative and prediction-error signals. These findings suggest that regions underlying reinforcement learning may be engaged in warmth and competence social expectancy violation, and illustrate the neural overlap between neuroeconomics and social neuroscience.