To investigate the response to suboptimal outcomes, Verbuggen
et al. (Verbruggen F, Chambers CD, Lawrence NS, McLaren
IPL. 2017 Winning and losing: effects on impulsive action.
J. Exp. Psychol.: Hum. Percept. Perform. 43, 147. (doi:10.1037/
xhp0000284)) conducted a study in which participants chose
between a gamble and a non-gamble option. The non-gamble
option was a guaranteed amount of points, whereas the
gamble option was associated with a higher amount but a
lower probability of winning. The authors observed that
participants initiated the next trial faster after a loss compared
to wins or non-gambles. In the present study, we directly
replicated these findings in the laboratory and online. We also
designed another task controlling for the number of trials per
outcome. In this task, participants guessed where a reward
was hidden. They won points if they selected the correct
location, but lost points if they selected the incorrect location.
We included neutral trials as a baseline. Again, participants
sped up after a loss relative to wins and neutral trials (but only
with a response choice in neutral trials and a large sample
size). These findings appear inconsistent with cognitivecontrol
frameworks, which assume that suboptimal outcomes
typically lead to slower responses; instead, they suggest that
suboptimal outcomes can invigorate behaviour, consistent
with accounts of frustrative non-reward and impulsive action.