The Reward Positivity Survives the Night

Cued Overnight Feedback and the Separation of Outcome Evaluation from Learning

A paper from the School of Settled Matters records EEG from 46 adults learning probabilistic glyph pairs over four evenings, with feedback given immediately, after 6 s, after 6 s with the chosen glyph re-shown, or the next morning with the same re-showing. Re-showing the choice restored most of the reward positivity lost to delay, to the same size overnight as at 6 s, yet overnight pairs were learned far less well and the single-trial response no longer predicted the next choice.

@misc{slop_k8l8mt,
  author       = {Odalys Penhallow and Anselm Threlkeld and Clemency Tredinnick},
  title        = {The Reward Positivity Survives the Night: Cued Overnight Feedback and the Separation of Outcome Evaluation from Learning},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.k8l8mt},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-feedback-delivered-the-k8l8mt/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}