Figure 1.

Monetary loss decreases perceptual sensitivity for the conditioned stimuli. Subjects were tested for their discrimination threshold around three different pure tones; then underwent a conditioning session in which one tone was conditioned with monetary loss, one with gain, and one without outcome (neutral). After conditioning, they were tested again for changes in their discrimination threshold. A, Proportion-correct button press for loss-conditioned and gain-conditioned tones. There was no difference between the conditions and no interaction effect (n = 28). Shown are the means ± SEM. Inset, Reaction times for button press were not different for loss-related and gain-related tones. B, Group average changes (±SEM) in sensitivity for the loss-related and gain-related tones, compared with the neutral stimuli (n = 28). Data are the JND, presented as the percentage of the original tone (Δf/f) and obtained by a 2AFC adaptive test. Inset shows the non-normalized raw changes in JND (after − before; hence, a minus result is an improvement in sensitivity, n = 28).