Figure 3. Changes in objective and subjective feedback.

(A) Dissociable information provided by feedback. An example for a prediction (hatched box) and a subsequent feedback (red box) are shown overlaid on a rating/feedback scale. We derived three error signals that make dissociable predictions across combinations of predicted and actual outcomes. The solid blue line indicates Error Magnitude (distance from outcome to goal). As smaller errors reflect greater rewards, we computed Reward Prediction Error (RPE) as the signed difference between negative Error Magnitude and the negative predicted error magnitude (solid orange line, distance from prediction to goal). Sensory Prediction Error (SPE, dashed line) was quantified as the absolute discrepancy between feedback and prediction. Values of Error Magnitude (left), RPE (middle), and SPE (right) are plotted for all combinations of prediction (x-axis) and outcome (y-axis) location. (B) Predictions and confidence associate with reduced error signals. Average error magnitude (left), Reward Prediction Error (center), and Sensory Prediction Error (right) are shown for each block and confidence tercile. Average prediction errors are smaller than average error magnitudes (dashed circles), particularly for higher confidence.