{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,27]],"date-time":"2026-03-27T19:42:27Z","timestamp":1774640547297,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,31]],"date-time":"2021-07-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1627689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004073","name":"Killam Trusts","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Doctoral Scholarship (RSR)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Doctoral Scholarship (RSR)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004073","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CGS (RSR; CCW)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CGS (RSR; CCW)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PDF (CDH)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PDF (CDH)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Discovery Grant (OEK)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Discovery Grant (OEK)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Games"],"abstract":"<jats:p>When we play competitive games, the opponents that we face act as predictors of the outcome of the game. For instance, if you are an average chess player and you face a Grandmaster, you anticipate a loss. Framed in a reinforcement learning perspective, our opponents can be thought of as predictors of rewards and punishments. The present study investigates whether facing an opponent would be processed as a reward or punishment depending on the level of difficulty the opponent poses. Participants played Rock, Paper, Scissors against three computer opponents while electroencephalographic (EEG) data was recorded. In a key manipulation, one opponent (HARD) was programmed to win most often, another (EASY) was made to lose most often, and the third (AVERAGE) had equiprobable outcomes of wins, losses, and ties. Through practice, participants learned to anticipate the relative challenge of a game based on the opponent they were facing that round. An analysis of our EEG data revealed that winning outcomes elicited a reward positivity relative to losing outcomes. Interestingly, our analysis of the predictive cues (i.e., the opponents\u2019 faces) demonstrated that attentional engagement (P3a) was contextually sensitive to anticipated game difficulty. As such, our results for the predictive cue are contrary to what one might expect for a reinforcement model associated with predicted reward, but rather demonstrate that the neural response to the predictive cue was encoding the level of engagement with the opponent as opposed to value relative to the anticipated outcome.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/g12030062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,1]],"date-time":"2021-08-01T21:46:44Z","timestamp":1627854404000},"page":"62","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Champ versus Chump: Viewing an Opponent\u2019s Face Engages Attention but Not Reward Systems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8116-8806","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ralph S.","family":"Redden","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 6299 South St, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada"}]},{"given":"Greg A.","family":"Gagliardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroeconomics Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2016-5614","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chad C.","family":"Williams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroeconomics Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9283-2813","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cameron D.","family":"Hassall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK"}]},{"given":"Olave E.","family":"Krigolson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroeconomics Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1813","DOI":"10.1080\/10447318.2019.1574058","article-title":"A Comparison of Engagement between the Attention Network Test and a Videogame-Like Version, Called the AttentionTrip","volume":"35","author":"Klein","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Von Neumann, J., and Morgenstern, O. (2007). Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Commemorative Edition), Princeton University Press.","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400829460"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Smith, J.M. (1982). Evolution and the Theory of Games, Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511806292"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-018-0010-7","article-title":"Foraging for foundations in decision neuroscience: Insights from ethology","volume":"19","author":"Mobbs","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1593","DOI":"10.1126\/science.275.5306.1593","article-title":"A Neural Substrate of Prediction and Reward","volume":"275","author":"Schultz","year":"1997","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"679","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.109.4.679","article-title":"The neural basis of human error processing: Reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity","volume":"109","author":"Holroyd","year":"2002","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1111\/psyp.12370","article-title":"The reward positivity: From basic research on reward to a biomarker for depression","volume":"52","author":"Proudfit","year":"2015","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpsycho.2017.11.007","article-title":"Event-related brain potentials and the study of reward processing: Methodological considerations","volume":"132","author":"Krigolson","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychophysiol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"913","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8986.2007.00561.x","article-title":"Reward prediction error signals associated with a modified time estimation task","volume":"44","author":"Holroyd","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopsycho.2017.09.007","article-title":"When theory and biology differ: The relationship between reward prediction errors and expectancy","volume":"129","author":"Williams","year":"2017","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"635","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00509","article-title":"How We Learn to Make Decisions: Rapid Propagation of Reinforcement Learning Prediction Errors in Humans","volume":"26","author":"Krigolson","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1097\/WNR.0b013e328345441d","article-title":"Reward positivity elicited by predictive cues","volume":"22","author":"Holroyd","year":"2011","journal-title":"NeuroReport"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1608","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nsw069","article-title":"Behavioral and neuronal determinants of negative reciprocity in the ultimatum game","volume":"11","author":"Kaltwasser","year":"2016","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2017.00307","article-title":"Who Deserves My Trust? Cue-Elicited Feedback Negativity Tracks Reputation Learning in Repeated Social Interactions","volume":"11","author":"Li","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"731","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nst051","article-title":"A neural signature of the creation of social evaluation","volume":"9","author":"Osinsky","year":"2014","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20479","DOI":"10.1038\/srep20479","article-title":"Negative outcomes evoke cyclic irrational decisions in Rock, Paper, Scissors","volume":"6","author":"Dyson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33809","DOI":"10.1038\/srep33809","article-title":"Behavioural and neural modulation of win-stay but not lose-shift strategies as a function of outcome value in Rock, Paper, Scissors","volume":"6","author":"Forder","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2128","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clinph.2007.04.019","article-title":"Updating P300: An integrative theory of P3a and P3b","volume":"118","author":"Polich","year":"2007","journal-title":"Clin. Neurophysiol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"417","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopsycho.2010.09.003","article-title":"Auditory hallucinations and the P3a: Attention-switching to speech in schizophrenia","volume":"85","author":"Fisher","year":"2010","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"588","DOI":"10.1080\/13803395.2012.666231","article-title":"Orbitofrontal cortex biases attention to emotional events","volume":"34","author":"Hartikainen","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"777","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joep.2010.03.007","article-title":"Using the P3a to gauge automatic attention to interactive television advertising","volume":"31","author":"Gold","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Econ. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jrp.2014.03.005","article-title":"Implicit power motive effects on the ERP processing of emotional intensity in anger faces","volume":"50","author":"Wang","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Res. Pers."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1016\/S0301-0511(02)00005-4","article-title":"Discrimination of emotional facial expressions in a visual oddball task: An ERP study","volume":"59","author":"Campanella","year":"2002","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"967","DOI":"10.1111\/1469-8986.00115","article-title":"Turn that frown upside down: ERP effects of thatcherization of misorientated faces","volume":"40","author":"Milivojevic","year":"2003","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1871","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-200006260-00014","article-title":"Modulation of event-related potentials by prototypical and atypical faces","volume":"11","author":"Halit","year":"2000","journal-title":"NeuroReport"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpsycho.2006.02.001","article-title":"Inter-modal attention: ERPs to auditory targets in an inter-modal oddball task","volume":"62","author":"Brown","year":"2006","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychophysiol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"723","DOI":"10.1016\/0028-3932(92)90042-K","article-title":"Revisiting the oddball paradigm. Non-target vs neutral stimuli and the evaluation of ERP attentional effects","volume":"30","author":"Lukaszewicz","year":"1992","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1163\/156856897X00357","article-title":"The Psychophysics Toolbox","volume":"10","author":"Brainard","year":"1997","journal-title":"Spat. Vis."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"437","DOI":"10.1163\/156856897X00366","article-title":"The VideoToolbox software for visual psychophysics: Transforming numbers into movies","volume":"10","author":"Pelli","year":"1997","journal-title":"Spat. Vis."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jneumeth.2003.10.009","article-title":"EEGLAB: An Open Source Toolbox for Analysis of Single-Trial EEG Dynamics Including Independ-ent Component Analysis","volume":"134","author":"Delorme","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Methods"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000006","article-title":"A Neural Reward Prediction Error Revealed by a Meta-Analysis of ERPs Using Great Grand Aver-ages","volume":"141","author":"Sambrook","year":"2015","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1111\/psyp.12639","article-title":"How to get statistically significant effects in any ERP experiment (and why you shouldn\u2019t)","volume":"54","author":"Luck","year":"2017","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1080\/00222895.2012.760512","article-title":"Visual Search Differs But Not Reaction Time When Intercepting a 3D Versus 2D Videoed Opponent","volume":"45","author":"Lee","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Mot. Behav."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"527","DOI":"10.1037\/a0025761","article-title":"Do not fear your opponent: Suboptimal changes of a prevention strategy when facing stronger opponents","volume":"141","author":"Slezak","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Gen."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainres.2005.12.015","article-title":"The good, the bad and the neutral: Electrophysiological responses to feedback stimuli","volume":"1105","author":"Holroyd","year":"2006","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopsycho.2017.03.009","article-title":"Differentiating Motivational from Affective Influence of Performance-contingent Reward on Cognitive Control: The Wanting Component Enhances Both Proactive and Reactive Control","volume":"125","author":"Chaillou","year":"2017","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2014.11.014","article-title":"Bilingualism modulates dual mechanisms of cognitive control: Evidence from ERPs","volume":"66","author":"Morales","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1887","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-200210280-00011","article-title":"Think differently: A brain orienting response to task novelty","volume":"13","author":"Knight","year":"2002","journal-title":"NeuroReport"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1734","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.2006.18.10.1734","article-title":"Task Switching and Novelty Processing Activate a Common Neural Network for Cognitive Control","volume":"18","author":"Barcelo","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6741","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0711099105","article-title":"Neural correlates of mentalizing-related computations during strategic interactions in humans","volume":"105","author":"Hampton","year":"2008","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8986.1981.tb01815.x","article-title":"Surprise!? Surprise?","volume":"18","author":"Donchin","year":"1981","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1204","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2011.02.027","article-title":"Model-Based Influences on Humans\u2019 Choices and Striatal Prediction Errors","volume":"69","author":"Daw","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"576","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-020-0355-6","article-title":"Beyond dichotomies in reinforcement learning","volume":"21","author":"Collins","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"968","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2006.11.056","article-title":"Reward expectation modulates feedback-related negativity and EEG spectra","volume":"35","author":"Cohen","year":"2007","journal-title":"NeuroImage"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpsycho.2019.11.002","article-title":"Behavioural and neural interactions between objective and subjective performance in a Matching Pennies game","volume":"147","author":"Dyson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychophysiol."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8986.2005.00278.x","article-title":"Brain potentials associated with expected and unexpected good and bad outcomes","volume":"42","author":"Hajcak","year":"2005","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2481","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-200312190-00037","article-title":"Errors in reward prediction are reflected in the event-related brain potential","volume":"14","author":"Holroyd","year":"2003","journal-title":"NeuroReport"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2007.09.001","article-title":"Better or worse than expected? Aging, learning, and the ERN","volume":"46","author":"Eppinger","year":"2008","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"905","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8986.2007.00567.x","article-title":"It\u2019s worse than you thought: The feedback negativity and violations of reward prediction in gambling tasks","volume":"44","author":"Hajcak","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"865","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhk040","article-title":"Decision-Making in Blackjack: An Electro-physiological Analysis","volume":"17","author":"Hewig","year":"2006","journal-title":"Cereb. Cortex"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.3758\/CABN.9.1.59","article-title":"When is an error not a prediction error? An electrophysiological investigation","volume":"9","author":"Holroyd","year":"2009","journal-title":"Cogn. Affect. Behav. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8986.2011.01291.x","article-title":"The influence of the magnitude, probability, and valence of potential wins and losses on the amplitude of the feedback negativity","volume":"49","author":"KreuSSel","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainres.2006.01.022","article-title":"Affective-motivational influences on feedback-related ERPs in a gambling task","volume":"1105","author":"Masaki","year":"2006","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1481","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8986.2011.01229.x","article-title":"Age, sex and individual differences in punishment sensitivity: Factors influencing the feedback-related negativity","volume":"48","author":"Santesso","year":"2011","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fuentes-Garc\u00eda, J.P., Villafaina, S., Collado-Mateo, D., Cano-Plasencia, R., and Gusi, N. (2019). Chess Players Increase the Theta Power Spectrum When the Difficulty of the Opponent Increases: An EEG Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 17.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17010046"}],"container-title":["Games"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4336\/12\/3\/62\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T06:38:21Z","timestamp":1760164701000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4336\/12\/3\/62"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,31]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]}},"alternative-id":["g12030062"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/g12030062","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-4336"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-4336","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,31]]}}}