Assessing the desire for aesthetics: Adaptation and validation of the desire for aesthetics scale in German (DFAS-G).

OBJECTIVES: Individuals vary in their levels of Desire for Aesthetics, ranging from superficial interest to profound immersion. However, there is currently a lack of measurement tools available to assess Desire for Aesthetics across various domains within German-speaking populations. Addressing this gap, the present study aimed to develop the Desire for Aesthetics Scale in German (DFAS-G) and evaluate its psychometric properties to comprehensively assess aesthetic preferences and inclinations. METHODS: We conducted three consecutive studies and collected three samples of students and university employees. In Study 1 (N = 317), we selected a translated item pool using the forward-backward translation method, conducted cultural adaptation of the items, and assessed the scale's factor structure through an exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2 (N = 304), we revised and cross-validated the scale using confirmatory factor analysis and examined the final 37-item DFAS-G for reliability and validity. In Study 3 (N = 300), we further examined the scales construct validity and assessed retest reliability 291 days after initial testing. RESULTS: The factor analysis conducted in Study 1 resulted in a four-factor solution representing the Desire for Aesthetics in four domains: Visual Arts, Individuals, Music, and Habitat. We found good internal consistency for the global scale (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87) and all subscales (0.74 to 0.82). We also found construct validity with Art Interest and facets of the Big Five personality trait Openness and provided first evidence of criterion validity and incremental validity of the DFAS-G global score toward Aesthetic Perception and Visual Arts toward Art Interest in Study 2. We further found evidence of convergent validity with the Openness facet Aesthetics, discriminant validity with the facet Values, and high test-retest reliability (0.85 to 1.00) in Study 3. CONCLUSIONS: The present article provides a scale for measuring DfA in German-speaking populations and first steps of its validation. The DFAS-G extends the repertoire of options for psychological research on individual differences in aesthetics appreciation. Follow-up studies could provide further evidence of the subscale's validity and equivalence to the original scale.

Flexible processing of distractor stimuli under stress.

Acute stress is assumed to affect executive processing of stimulus information, although extant studies have yielded heterogeneous findings. The temporal flanker task, in which a target stimulus is preceded by a distractor of varying utility, offers a means of investigating various components involved in the adjustment of information processing and conflict control. Both behavioral and EEG data obtained with this task suggest stronger distractor-related response activation in conditions associated with higher predictivity of the distractor for the upcoming target. In two experiments we investigated distractor-related processing and conflict control after inducing acute stress (Trier Social Stress Test). Although the stressed groups did not differ significantly from unstressed control groups concerning behavioral markers of attentional adjustment (i.e., Proportion Congruent Effect), or event-related sensory components in the EEG (i.e., posterior P1 and N1), the lateralized readiness potential demonstrated reduced activation evoked by (predictive) distractor information under stress. Our results suggest flexible adjustment of attention under stress but hint at decreased usage of nominally irrelevant stimulus information for biasing response selection.

Experiencing beauty in everyday life.

Beauty surrounds us in many ways every day. In three experience sampling (ESM) studies we investigated frequency, category of eliciting stimuli (natural vs human-made) and, the potential moderating role of several individual difference measures on such everyday experiences of beauty in an ecologically valid manner. Further, we explored the impact of such experiences on valence & arousal. Study 1 re-analysed data from a previous study, in line with the current aims. In Studies 2 and 3, we asked participants to report daily experiences of beauty using a mixed random and event-contingent sampling schedule. Mobile notifications (random sampling) prompted participants to take a photo and rate the beauty of their surroundings. Further, current valence and arousal were assessed. Notification frequency and total days of participation differed between these two studies. Participants were able to report additional experiences outside of the notification windows (event-contingent sampling). Our results indicate that we frequently encounter beauty in everyday life and that we find it in nature, in particular. Our results further suggest a mood-boosting effect of encounters with beauty. Lastly, our results indicate influences of individual differences however, these were inconclusive and require further attention.

Preparation and persistence of deploying attention to locations or stimulus structures: Evidence from intermixed probe trials.

Attention can be directed to the global or local level of a visual stimulus (i.e., Navon figure). Previous studies yielded reliable trial-to-trial level switch costs (i.e., worse performance when responding to the other level than on a previous trial), even though level cueing effects indicated anticipatory deployment of attention to the upcoming target level. To investigate the interplay of attentional preparation and persistence, we applied a probe trial method assumed to ensure a high degree of preparation for the upcoming target level and minimizing stimulus-specific proactive interference. Mirroring previous findings obtained in the domain of spatial attention, we found evidence for anticipatory attentional focusing on global/local target levels but not for persistence of the attentional set adopted on the previous trial. In a second experiment, we prevented preparation for upcoming attentional demands (in both global-local and spatial attention tasks). This resulted in the modulation of performance (in critical probe trials) by the attentional demands of the predecessor trial. Together, our findings demonstrate sensitivity of the probe trial method for attentional persistence and raise the possibility that such persistence can be completely eliminated by sufficiently strong preparation for the attentional demands of the following trial.

The impact of crossmodal predictions on the neural processing of aesthetic stimuli.

Neuroaesthetic research has focused on neural predictive processes involved in the encounter with art stimuli or the related evaluative judgements, and it has been mainly conducted unimodally. Here, with electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography and an affective priming protocol, we investigated whether and how the neural responses to non-representational aesthetic stimuli are top-down modulated by affective representational (i.e. semantically meaningful) predictions between audition and vision. Also, the neural chronometry of affect processing of these aesthetic stimuli was investigated. We hypothesized that the early affective components of crossmodal aesthetic responses are dependent on the affective and representational predictions formed in another sensory modality resulting in differentiated brain responses, and that audition and vision indicate different processing latencies for affect. The target stimuli were aesthetic visual patterns and musical chords, and they were preceded by a prime from the opposing sensory modality. We found that early auditory-cortex responses to chords were more affected by valence than the corresponding visual-cortex ones. Furthermore, the assessments of visual targets were more facilitated by affective congruency of crossmodal primes than the acoustic targets. These results indicate, first, that the brain uses early affective information for predictively guiding aesthetic responses; second, that an affective transfer of information takes place crossmodally, mainly from audition to vision, impacting the aesthetic assessment. This article is part of the theme issue 'Art, aesthetics and predictive processing: theoretical and empirical perspectives'.

Comparison of two reaction-time-based and one foraging-based behavioral approach-avoidance tasks in relation to interindividual differences and their reliability.

Approaching rewards and avoiding punishments is a fundamental aspect of behavior, yet individuals differ in the extent of these behavioral tendencies. One popular method to assess differences in approach-avoidance tendencies and even modify them, is using behavioral tasks in which spontaneous responses to differently valenced stimuli are assessed (e.g., the visual joystick and the manikin task). Understanding whether these reaction-time-based tasks map onto the same underlying constructs, how they predict interindividual differences in theoretically related constructs and how reliable they are, seems vital to make informed judgements about current findings and future studies. In this preregistered study, 168 participants (81 self-identified men, 87 women) completed emotional face versions of these tasks as well as an alternative, foraging-based paradigm, the approach-avoidance-conflict task, and answered self-report questionnaires regarding anxiety, aggression, depressive symptoms, behavioral inhibition and activation. Importantly, approach-avoidance outcome measures of the two reaction-time-based tasks were unrelated with each other, showed little relation to self-reported interindividual differences and had subpar internal consistencies. In contrast, the approach-avoidance-conflict task was related to behavioral inhibition and aggression, and had good internal consistencies. Our study highlights the need for more research into optimizing behavioral approach-avoidance measures when using task-based approach-avoidance measures to assess interindividual differences.

Mechanisms of Training-Related Change in Processing Speed: A Drift-Diffusion Model Approach.

Processing speed is a crucial ability that changes over the course of the lifespan. Training interventions on processing speed have shown promising effects and have been associated with improved cognitive functioning. While training-related changes in processing speed are often studied using reaction times (RTs) and error rates, these measures provide limited insight into the mechanisms underlying changes during training. The drift-diffusion model provides estimates of the cognitive processes underlying speeded decision tasks, such as the rate of evidence accumulation (drift rate), response strategies (boundary separation), as well as time for other processes such as stimulus encoding and motor response (non-decision time). In the current study, we analyzed existing data of an extensive multi-session training intervention (von Bastian & Oberauer, 2013) to disentangle changes in drift rate, boundary separation, and non-decision time during training of different speeded choice-RT tasks. During this training intervention, 30 participants performed 20 training sessions over the course of four weeks, completing three tasks each session: a face-matching, a pattern-matching, and a digit-matching task. Our results show that processing speed training increased drift rates throughout training. Boundary separation and non-decision time decreased mostly during the initial parts of training. This pattern of prolonged training-related changes in rate of evidence accumulation as well as early changes in response strategy and non-decision processes was observed across all three tasks. Future research should investigate how these training-related changes relate to improvements in cognitive functioning more broadly.

How Attention Changes in Response to Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing.

Research investigating the effects of carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinsing on neurocognitive functions is currently limited and has yielded inconsistent results. In this study, we employed the event-related potential (ERP) electroencephalography technique to investigate the effect of CHO mouth rinsing on electrophysiological correlates of visuospatial attention. Using a double-blind, non-nutritive sweetener (NNS)-controlled, within-subjects design, 53 young adults performed a standard cognitive task (modified Simon task) on two separate days in a fasted state (16 h). Intermittently, mouth rinsing was performed either with a CHO (glucose, 18%, 30 mL) or an NNS solution (aspartame, 0.05%, 30 mL). Results revealed that relative to NNS, electrophysiological correlates of both more bottom-up controlled visuospatial attention (N1pc-ERP component) were decreased in response to CHO rinsing. In contrast, compared to NNS, more top-down controlled visuospatial attention (N2pc-ERP component) was increased after CHO rinsing. Behavioral performance, however, was not affected by mouth rinsing. Our findings suggest that orosensory signals can impact neurocognitive processes of visuospatial attention in a fasted state. This may suggest a central mechanism underlying the ergogenic effects of carbohydrate mouth rinsing on endurance performance could involve modulations of attentional factors. Methodologically, our study underlines that understanding the effects of carbohydrate mouth rinsing at the central level may require combining neuroscientific methods and manipulations of nutritional states.

The effects of hydrocortisone and yohimbine on human behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts.

RATIONALE: Balancing approach of positive and avoidance of negative stimuli is essential when faced with approach-avoidance conflicts, e.g., situations with both positive and negative outcomes. This balance is disturbed in several mental disorders, e.g., excessive avoidance in anxiety disorders, and heightened approach in substance use disorders. Since stress is assumed to impact these disorders' etiology and maintenance, it seems crucial to understand how stress influences behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts. Indeed, some studies suggested altered approach-avoidance behavior under acute stress, but the mechanism underlying these effects is unknown. OBJECTIVES: Investigate how the pharmacological manipulation of major stress mediators (cortisol and noradrenaline) influences task-based approach-avoidance conflict behavior in healthy individuals. METHODS: Ninety-six participants (48 women, 48 men) received either 20mg hydrocortisone, 20mg yohimbine, both, or placebo before performing a task targeting foraging under predation in a fully crossed double-blind between-subject design. Moreover, we investigated effects of gender and endogenous testosterone and estradiol levels on approach-avoidance behavior. RESULTS: While biological stress markers (cortisol concentration, alpha amylase activity) indicated successful pharmacological manipulation, behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts was not affected as expected. Although yohimbine administration affected risky foraging latency under predation, we found no main effect of hydrocortisone or their interaction on behavior. In contrast, we found gender differences for almost all behavioral outcome measures, which might be explained by differences in endogenous testosterone levels. CONCLUSIONS: The investigated major stress mediators were not sufficient to imitate previously shown stress effects on approach-avoidance conflict behavior. We discuss potential reasons for our findings and implications for future research.

You can touch this! Brain correlates of aesthetic processing of active fingertip exploration of material surfaces.

The haptic exploration and aesthetic processing of all kinds of materials' surfaces are part of everyday life. In the present study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to investigate the brain correlates of active fingertip exploration of material surfaces and subsequent aesthetic judgments of their pleasantness (feels good or bad?). In absence of other sensory modalities, individuals (n = 21) performed lateral movements on a total of 48 textile and wood surfaces varying in terms of their roughness. Behavioral results confirmed the influence of the stimuli's roughness on aesthetic judgments, with smoother textures being rated as feeling better than rough textures. At the neural level, fNIRS activation results revealed an overall increased engagement of the contralateral sensorimotor areas as well as left prefrontal areas. Moreover, the perceived pleasantness modulated specific activations of left prefrontal areas with increasing pleasantness showing greater activations of these regions. Interestingly, this positive relationship between the individual aesthetic judgments and brain activity was most pronounced for smooth woods. These results demonstrate that positively valenced touch by actively exploring material surfaces is linked to left prefrontal activity and extend previous findings of affective touch underlying passive movements on hairy skin. We suggest that fNIRS can be a valuable tool to provide new insights in the field of experimental aesthetics.

Attentional adjustment in priming tasks: control strategies depend on context.

Goal-directed behavior is assumed to require processes of attentional biasing to counter unwanted action tendencies elicited by distracting stimulus information. This is particularly so if stimulus categories that define the target and the distractor frequently reverse, requiring participants to respond to previously ignored stimulus categories and vice versa. In the current study, we investigated control strategies under such conditions. Specifically, we assessed trial-to-trial modulation of distractor-interference (i.e., congruency sequence effect, CSE) in a temporal flanker task associated with repetition versus alternation of the assignment of stimulus category (i.e., digits, letters) to targets and distractors (i.e., the character presented second or first, respectively) under conditions of a long SOA of 1000 ms (Experiment 1A) and 1200 ms (Experiment 1B). Whereas previous research, using a shorter SOA, suggested temporal-order control (i.e., the occurrence of a CSE in both repetition and-albeit less pronounced-alternation trials), lengthening the distractor-target SOA resulted in a CSE confined to repetition trials, suggesting strong or exclusive reliance on stimulus categories for attentional control (Experiment 1A and B). Adding a redundant stimulus feature (i.e., color), discriminating targets and distractors, eliminated the difference of CSE patterns in repetition and alternation trials (Experiment 2). Together, our results suggest that the strength of concurrently applied control strategies or the choice of a particular control strategy depend on contextual factors.

Dissociating selectivity adjustments from temporal learning-introducing the context-dependent proportion congruency effect.

The list-level proportion congruency effect (PCE) and the context-specific PC (CSPC) effect are typical findings in experimental conflict protocols, which competing explanations attribute to different mechanisms. Of these mechanisms, stimulus-unspecific conflict-induced selectivity adjustments have attracted the most interest, from various disciplines. Recent methodological advances have yielded an experimental procedure for entirely ruling out all stimulus-specific alternatives. However, there is a stimulus-unspecific alternative-temporal learning-which cannot even be ruled out as the sole cause of either effect with any established experimental procedure. That is because it is very difficult to create a scenario in which selectivity adjustments and temporal learning make different predictions-with traditional approaches, it is arguably impossible. Here, we take a step towards solving this problem, and experimentally dissociating the two mechanisms. First, we present our novel approach which is a combination of abstract experimental conditions and theoretical assumptions. As we illustrate with two computational models, given this particular combination, the two mechanisms predict opposite modulations of an as yet unexplored hybrid form of the list-level PCE and the CSPC effect, which we term context-dependent PCE (CDPCE). With experimental designs that implement the abstract conditions properly, it is therefore possible to rule out temporal learning as the sole cause of stimulus-unspecific adaptations to PC, and to unequivocally attribute the latter, at least partially, to selectivity adjustments. Secondly, we evaluate methodological and theoretical aspects of the presented approach. Finally, we report two experiments, that illustrate both the promise of and a potential challenge to this approach.

Materials aesthetics: A replication and extension study of the conceptual structure.

Natural occurrences and the choice of specific materials have a major impact on the experience of the physical environment. The results of a recent study using a free listing task involving only adjectives suggested that the conceptual structure of the aesthetics of materials is structured by sensorial, neutrally valenced, descriptive terms, while showing no primacy of beauty. The present article examined the conceptual structure underlying the aesthetic experience of various materials using a different methodological approach. Applying a technique based upon semantic differentials, individuals in the present study (n = 272) were asked to judge the applicability of the most frequently listed terms in the previous study to the aesthetics of different materials. Overall, the results of multiple analyses yielded a converging picture for the two studies. Additionally, as materials constitute the basis of complete entities, the role of products in the conceptual representation of the aesthetics of materials was investigated with an exploratory approach. No support was found for the hypothesis that products play such a role. Finally, limitations regarding the outcome of the present study are discussed. All things considered, the results of this study highlight the uniqueness of the aesthetics of materials and its distinctness from the conceptual representations underlying most other aesthetic domains.

Lay conceptions of "being moved" ("bewegt sein") include a joyful and a sad type: Implications for theory and research.

Being moved has received increased attention in emotion psychology as a social emotion that fosters bonds between individuals and within communities. This increased attention, however, has also sparked debates about whether the term "being moved" refers to a single distinct profile of emotion components or rather to a range of different emotion profiles. We addressed this question by investigating lay conceptions of the emotion components (i.e., elicitors, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, bodily symptoms, and consequences for thought/action) of "bewegt sein" (the German term for "being moved"). Participants (N = 106) provided written descriptions of both a moving personal experience and their conceptual prototype of "being moved," which were subjected to content analysis to obtain quantitative data for statistical analyses. Based on latent class analyses, we identified two classes for both the personal experiences (joyfully-moved and sadly-moved classes) and the being-moved prototype (basic-description and extended-description classes). Being joyfully moved occurred when social values and positive relationship experiences were salient. Being sadly moved was elicited by predominantly negative relationship experiences and negatively salient social values. For both classes, the most frequently reported consequences for thought/action were continued cognitive engagement, finding meaning, and increased valuation of and striving for connectedness/prosociality. Basic descriptions of the prototype included "being moved" by positive or negative events as instances of the same emotion, with participants in the extended-description class also reporting joy and sadness as associated emotions. Based on our findings and additional theoretical considerations, we propose that the term "being moved" designates an emotion with an overall positive valence that typically includes blends of positively and negatively valenced emotion components, in which especially the weight of the negative components varies. The emotion's unifying core is that it involves feeling the importance of individuals, social entities, and abstract social values as sources of meaning in one's life.

I know what i like when i see it: Likability is distinct from pleasantness since early stages of multimodal emotion evaluation.

Liking and pleasantness are common concepts in psychological emotion theories and in everyday language related to emotions. Despite obvious similarities between the terms, several empirical and theoretical notions support the idea that pleasantness and liking are cognitively different phenomena, becoming most evident in the context of emotion regulation and art enjoyment. In this study it was investigated whether liking and pleasantness indicate behaviourally measurable differences, not only in the long timespan of emotion regulation, but already within the initial affective responses to visual and auditory stimuli. A cross-modal affective priming protocol was used to assess whether there is a behavioural difference in the response time when providing an affective rating to a liking or pleasantness task. It was hypothesized that the pleasantness task would be faster as it is known to rely on rapid feature detection. Furthermore, an affective priming effect was expected to take place across the sensory modalities and the presentative and non-presentative stimuli. A linear mixed effect analysis indicated a significant priming effect as well as an interaction effect between the auditory and visual sensory modalities and the affective rating tasks of liking and pleasantness: While liking was rated fastest across modalities, it was significantly faster in vision compared to audition. No significant modality dependent differences between the pleasantness ratings were detected. The results demonstrate that liking and pleasantness rating scales refer to separate processes already within the short time scale of one to two seconds. Furthermore, the affective priming effect indicates that an affective information transfer takes place across modalities and the types of stimuli applied. Unlike hypothesized, liking rating took place faster across the modalities. This is interpreted to support emotion theoretical notions where liking and disliking are crucial properties of emotion perception and homeostatic self-referential information, possibly overriding pleasantness-related feature analysis. Conclusively, the findings provide empirical evidence for a conceptual delineation of common affective processes.

Unraveling the Contribution of Serotonergic Polymorphisms, Prefrontal Alpha Asymmetry, and Individual Alpha Peak Frequency to the Emotion-Related Impulsivity Endophenotype.

The unique contribution of the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), intronic region 2 (STin2), and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) genes to individual differences in personality traits has been widely explored, and research has shown that certain forms of these polymorphisms relate to impulsivity and impulsivity-related disorders. Humans showing these traits are also described as having an asymmetrical prefrontal cortical activity when compared to others. In this explorative study, we examine the relationship between serotonergic neurotransmission polymorphisms, cortical activity features (prefrontal alpha asymmetry, individual alpha peak frequency [iAPF]), emotion-related and non-emotion-related impulsivity in humans. 5-HTTLPR, MAO-A, and STin2 polymorphisms were assessed in blood taken from 91 participants with high emotion-related impulsivity levels. Sixty-seven participants completed resting electroencephalography and a more comprehensive impulsivity index. In univariate analyses, iAPF correlated with both forms of emotion-related impulsivity. In multiple linear regression models, 5-HTTLPR polymorphism (model 1, adj. R2 = 15.2%) and iAPF were significant interacting predictors of emotion-related impulsivity, explaining a large share of the results' variance (model 2, adj. R2 = 21.2%). Carriers of the low transcriptional activity 5-HTTPLR and MAO-A phenotypes obtained higher emotion-related impulsivity scores than others did. No significant results were detected for non-emotion-related impulsivity or for a form of emotion-related impulsivity involving cognitive/motivational reactivity to emotion. Our findings support an endophenotypic approach to impulsivity, showing that tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR polymorphism, iAPF, and their interaction are relevant predictors of one form of emotion-related impulsivity.

Electrophysiological correlates of proportion congruency manipulation in a temporal flanker task.

Response conflict evoked by a distractor stimulus object in interference tasks is associated with longer reaction times and a pronounced ERP component referred to as the fronto-central N2. Increasing the proportion congruency (PC, i.e., the proportion of trials in which target and distractor are associated with the same response) is assumed to enhance distractor-evoked conflict via defocusing of attention. Findings concerning the effect of the PC on the N2 in Eriksen flanker task experiments have been inconsistent, however, lending little support to the notion that the N2 reflects a conflict monitoring process. Here, we analyze the N2 in a temporal flanker task, in which the distractor stimuli, presented in advance of the target, elicit pronounced activation of the associated responses (as inferred from the lateralized readiness potential) when the PC is high. Consistent with result pattern obtained in other tasks involving successive presentation of the distractor and the target, conflict trials in a high-PC condition evoked a particularly large N2. These findings accord with the assumption that the N2 reflects either conflict monitoring or conflict-induced regulatory measures (i.e., reactive control). In light of the discrepancy of results obtained under conditions of simultaneous and successive distractor-target presentation, we speculate that the N2 is pronounced in situations that offer strong hints for classifying dominating response activation as incorrect, possibly reflecting particular control to counter this activation. Additional properties of the temporal flanker task, related to ERP investigations, are discussed.

Job mobility and job performance: beliefs about social and occupational (dis)advantages as mediators.

Background. Modern working conditions require an increased amount of spatial mobility from employed personnel. Research suggests that different types of job mobility might exert negative effects on well-being and health, and additionally have different costs and benefits for the work and the social domains. Methods. Using data from 3191 members of the German Armed Forces, we investigated the effects of four different types of job mobility (long-distance commuters, overnighters, residential mobiles and multi-mobiles) in contrast to non-mobiles on employees' subjective job performance as an occupationally relevant outcome. Moreover, we expected beliefs about social and occupational advantages and disadvantages to mediate the effects of job mobility on subjective job performance. Results. A single concrete event during relocation had fewer negative consequences compared to the effects of circular mobility or multi-mobility. Moreover, beliefs about occupational and social advantages and disadvantages were differently associated with the different types of job mobility and partially mediated the direct effects of job mobility on job performance. Conclusions. Not all types of job mobility are an impairment and extra-organizational stress. Rather, the evaluation and perception of occupational and social (dis)advantages is crucial for the effects of different types of job mobility on organizational relevant outcomes.

Tasting rewards. Effects of orosensory sweet signals on human error processing.

Human research has shown interactions between rewards and cognitive control. In animal models of affective neuroscience, reward administration typically involves administering orosensory sugar signals (OSS) during caloric-deprived states. We adopted this procedure to investigate neurophysiological mechanisms of reward-cognitive control interactions in humans. We predicted that OSS would affect neurophysiological and behavioral indices of error processing oppositely, depending on the relative weight of the OSS-induced 'wanting' and 'liking' components of reward. We, therefore, conducted a double-blind, non-nutritive sweetener-controlled study with a within-subject design. Fasted (16 hr) participants (N = 61) performed a modified Flanker task to assess neurophysiological (error-related negativity [Ne/ERN]) and behavioral (post-error adaptations) measures of error processing. Non-contingent to task performance, we repeatedly administered either a sugar (glucose) or non-nutritive sweetener (aspartame) solution, which had to be expulsed after short oral stimulation to prevent post-oral effects. Consistent with our hypothesis on how 'liking' would affect Ne/ERN amplitude, we found the latter to be decreased for sugar compared to aspartame. Unexpectedly, we found post-error accuracy, instead of post-error slowing, to be reduced by sugar relative to aspartame. Our findings suggest that OSS may interact with error processing through the 'liking' component of rewards. Adopting our reward-induction procedure (i.e. administering OSS in a state of high reward sensitivity [i.e. fasting], non-contingent to task performance) might help future research investigating the neural underpinnings of reward-cognitive control interactions in humans.