Magnitude of Incentive Effects on Heart Rate

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Abstract
Previous demonstrations of monetary incentive effects on heart rate during a continuous motor task were extended by employing different magnitudes of incentive: 0¢ (feedback only), 2¢, and 5¢ per response. The influence of the total amount of monetary incentive for the experiment was examined by providing monetary incentives either for only 2 trials or for all 5 trials. This procedure also provided an evaluation of the effect on heart rate during the later trials of discontinuing the incentive after 2 trials. The results showed a clear and graded effect of the amount of incentive per response, but no significant effects were obtained for the total amount of incentive, in spite of providing subjects with clear feedback as to how much money they could expect. Discontinuing incentives produced a significant decrease in heart rate, compared to subjects who continued to receive incentives.No effect was found for the magnitude of incentive on the rate of responding on the motor task, rendering unlikely an explanation for the results in terms of cardiac‐somatic coupling. Also, any possible contribution to the heart rate results from frustrative nonreward feedback was eliminated by avoiding any suggestion of failure feedback on the task. It was concluded that the effects are attributable to the incentive value of the monetary reward and that they are large enough to be of considerable interest.