A review of ideomotor approaches to perception, cognition, action, and language: advancing a cultural recycling hypothesis

Learning and transfer of response-effect relations

Acting means changing the environment according to one's own goals, and this often requires bodily movements as responses. How these responses are selected is a central question in contemporary cognitive psychology. The ideomotor principle offers a simple answer based on two assumptions: An agent first learns an association between a response and its effects. Later, this association can be used in a reverse way: When the agent wants to achieve a desired effect and activates its representation, the associated response representation becomes activated as well. This reversed use of the learned association is considered the means to select the required response. In three experiments, we addressed two questions related to the first assumption: First, we tested whether effect representations generalise to more abstract conceptual knowledge. This is important, because outside the laboratory and in novel situations, effects are variable and not always exactly identical, such that generalisation is necessary for successful actions. Second, the nature of the response-effect relation has been debated recently, and more data are necessary to put theorising on firm empirical ground. Results of our experiments suggest that (a) abstraction to conceptual knowledge seems to occur only under very restricted situations, and (b) it seems that no (implicit) associations between responses and effects are learned, but rather (explicit) propositional knowledge in the form of rules.

Why motor imagery is not really motoric: towards a re-conceptualization in terms of effect-based action control

Overt and imagined action seem inextricably linked. Both have similar timing, activate shared brain circuits, and motor imagery influences overt action and vice versa. Motor imagery is, therefore, often assumed to recruit the same motor processes that govern action execution, and which allow one to play through or simulate actions offline. Here, we advance a very different conceptualization. Accordingly, the links between imagery and overt action do not arise because action imagery is intrinsically motoric, but because action planning is intrinsically imaginistic and occurs in terms of the perceptual effects one want to achieve. Seen like this, the term 'motor imagery' is a misnomer of what is more appropriately portrayed as 'effect imagery'. In this article, we review the long-standing arguments for effect-based accounts of action, which are often ignored in motor imagery research. We show that such views provide a straightforward account of motor imagery. We review the evidence for imagery-execution overlaps through this new lens and argue that they indeed emerge because every action we execute is planned, initiated and controlled through an imagery-like process. We highlight findings that this new view can now explain and point out open questions.

A perceptual control theory of emotional action

A theory is proposed that views emotional feelings as pivotal for action control. Feelings of emotions are valued interoceptive signals from the body that become multimodally integrated with perceptual contents from registered and mentally simulated events. During the simulation of a perceptual change from one event to the next, a conative feeling signal is created that codes for the wanting of a specific perceptual change. A wanted perceptual change is weighted more strongly than alternatives, increasing its activation level on the cognitive level and that of associated motor structures that produced this perceptual change in the past. As a consequence, a tendency for action is generated that is directed at the production of the wanted perception.

Assessing the influence of cognitive response conflict on balance control: an event-related approach using response-aligned force-plate time series data

Process interference or sharing of attentional resources between cognitive tasks and balance control during upright standing has been well documented. Attentional costs increase with greater balancing demands of a balance activity, for example in standing compared to sitting. The traditional approach for analyzing balance control using posturography with a force plate integrates across relative long trial periods of up to several minutes, which blends any balance adjustments and cognitive operations within this period. In the present study, we pursued an event-related approach to assess if single cognitive operations resolving response selection conflict in the Simon task interfere with concurrent balance control in quiet standing. In addition to traditional outcome measures (response latency, error proportions) in the cognitive Simon task, we investigated the effect of spatial congruency on measures of sway control. We expected that conflict resolution in incongruent trials would alter short-term progression of sway control. Our results demonstrated the expected congruency effect on performance in the cognitive Simon task and the mediolateral variability of balance control within 150 ms before the onset of the manual response was reduced to a greater degree in incongruent compared to congruent trials. In addition, mediolateral variability before and after the manual response was generally reduced compared to variability following target presentation, where no effect of congruency was observed. Assuming that response conflict in incongruent conditions requires suppression of the incorrect response tendencies, our results may imply that mechanisms of cognitive conflict resolution may also carry over to intermittent balance control mechanisms in a direction-specific manner.

Compatibility effects with touchless gestures

Human actions are suspect to various compatibility phenomena. For example, responding is faster to the side where a stimulus appears than to the opposite side, referred to as stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility. This is even true, if the response is given to a different stimulus feature, while location itself is irrelevant (Simon compatibility). In addition, responses typically produce perceivable effects on the environment. If they do so in a predictable way, responses are faster if they produce a (e.g., spatially) compatible effect on the same side than on the other side. That it, a left response is produced faster if it results predictably in a left effect than in a right effect. This effect is called response-effect (R-E) compatibility. Finally, compatibility could also exist between stimuli and the effects, which is accordingly called stimulus-effect (S-E) compatibility. Such compatibility phenomena are also relevant for applied purposes, be it in laparoscopic surgery or aviation. The present study investigates Simon and R-E compatibility for touchless gesture interactions. In line with a recent study, no effect of R-E compatibility was observed, yet irrelevant stimulus location yielded a large Simon effect. Touchless gestures thus seem to behave differently with regard to compatibility phenomena than interactions via (other) tools such as levers.

The evolutionary roots of goal-directed mechanisms: A communication account

Unleashed expressions for cooperation are mainly based on the expected perceptual effects of behaviours and not the behaviours themselves. From an evolutionary viewpoint, this goal-directed mechanism allows for a comprehensive story for the theory proposed by Heintz & Scott-Phillips. Over the past 2 million years, this situated mechanism has been reused for tool use and the language development for hominids.

Replacing vertical actions by mouse movements: a web-suited paradigm for investigating vertical spatial associations

The number of web-based studies in experimental psychology has been growing tremendously throughout the last few years. However, a straightforward web-based implementation does not exist for all types of experimental paradigms. In the current paper, we focus on how vertical response movements-which play a crucial role in spatial cognition and language research-can be translated into a web-based setup. Specifically, we introduce a web-suited counterpart of the vertical Stroop task (e.g., Fox & Shor, in Bull Psychon Soc 7:187-189, 1976; Lachmair et al., in Psychon Bull Rev 18:1180-1188, 2011; Thornton et al., in J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 39:964-973, 2013). We employed nouns referring to entities typically located in lower or upper vertical space (e.g., "worm" and "bird", respectively) in Experiments 1 and 2, and emotional valence words associated with a crouched or an upward bodily posture (e.g., "sadness" and "excitement", respectively) in Experiment 3. Depending on the font color, our participants used their mouse to drag the words to the lower or upper screen location. Across all experiments, we consistently observed congruency effects analogous to those obtained with the lab paradigm using actual vertical arm movements. Consequently, we conclude that our web-suited paradigm establishes a reliable approach to examining vertical spatial associations.

Ideomotor learning: Time to generalize a longstanding principle

The ideomotor principle holds that anticipating the sensory consequences of a movement triggers an associated motor response. Even though this framework dates back to the 19th century, it continues to lie at the heart of many contemporary approaches to human action control. Here we specifically focus on the ideomotor learning mechanism that has to precede action initiation via effect anticipation. Traditional approaches to this learning mechanism focused on establishing novel action-effect (or response-effect) associations. Here we apply the theoretical concept of common coding for action and perception to argue that the same learning principle should result in response-response and stimulus-stimulus associations just as well. Generalizing ideomotor learning in such a way results in a powerful and general framework of ideomotor action control, and it allows for integrating the two seemingly separate fields of ideomotor approaches and hierarchical learning.

Short-term pre-exposure to modality mappings: Modality-incompatible single-task exposure reduces modality-specific between-task crosstalk in task-switching

Modality compatibility refers to the similarity of the stimulus modality and the modality of the sensory-response effect that the response produces (i.e., vocal responses produce auditory effects). In this study, we investigated the effect of short-term pre-exposure of modality compatibility in task-switching. To this end, participants were exposed to either modality-compatible (visual-manual and auditory-vocal) or modality-incompatible (visual-vocal and auditory-manual) single-tasks. After a short-term single-task pre-exposure (with either both modality-compatible tasks, 2 × 80 trials each, or both modality-incompatible tasks, 2 × 80 trials each), participants were transferred to a task-switching situation, where they switched between tasks in both a modality-compatible and an incompatible condition. We found that after pre-exposure to modality-compatible single-tasks the typical effect of modality compatibility was found (i.e., larger switch costs with modality-incompatible tasks compared to modality-compatible tasks). In contrast, after pre-exposed to modality-incompatible single-tasks, modality compatibility no longer influenced switch costs. We assume that long-term modality-compatible associations could be overridden by short-term, task-specific associations to reduce between-task crosstalk.

Examination of a Response–Effect Compatibility Task With Continuous Mouse Movements: Free- Versus Forced-Choice Tasks and Sequential Modulations

According to ideomotor theory, we select actions by recalling and anticipating their sensory consequences, that is, their action effects. Compelling evidence for this theory comes from response–effect compatibility (REC) experiments, in which a response produces an effect with which it is either compatible or incompatible. For example, pressing a left/right response key is faster if it is predictably followed by an action effect on the same, compatible side compared with the other, incompatible side, even though the effect itself appears only after response time is measured. Recent studies investigated this effect with continuous responses (i.e., computer mouse movements) and reported an REC effect in a forced-choice but not in a free-choice task. From the keypressing literature, the opposite result pattern or no differences would have been expected. To clarify this issue, we report 3 experiments with mouse movement responses. Experiment 1 used a simpler scenario than in prior studies and found a similar result: The REC effect was evident in a forced- but not in a free-choice task. Also, sequential modulations of the REC effect were exploratorily analyzed and replicated with higher power in Experiment 2. However, Experiment 3 demonstrated that at least part of the REC effect with mouse movements can be attributed to stimulus–response compatibility (SRC), with a much smaller compatibility effect evident with a procedure for which SRC was reduced. We conclude that a sequentially modulated compatibility effect can be observed with mouse movements, but previous studies may have underestimated the contribution from SRC. The results are also discussed in terms of why the compatibility effect was observed in forced- but not free-choice tasks with mouse movement responses.

Preschool children's use of perceptual-motor knowledge and hierarchical representational skills for tool making

Although other animals can make simple tools, the expanded and complex material culture of humans is unprecedented in the animal kingdom. Tool making is a slow and late-developing ability in humans, and preschool children find making tools to solve problems very challenging. This difficulty in tool making might be related to the lack of familiarity with the tools and may be overcome by children's long term perceptual-motor knowledge. Thus, in this study, the effect of tool familiarity on tool making was investigated with a task in which 5-to-6-year-old children (n = 75) were asked to remove a small bucket from a vertical tube. The results show that children are better at tool making if the tool and its relation to the task are familiar to them (e.g., soda straw). Moreover, we also replicated the finding that hierarchical complexity and tool making were significantly related. Results are discussed in light of the ideomotor approach.

The anterior midcingulate cortex might be a neuronal substrate for the ideomotor mechanism

The way the brain controls voluntary movements for normal and pathological subject remains puzzling. In this selective review, we provide unreported harmonies between the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) activities and the ideomotor mechanism postulating that voluntary movements are controlled by the anticipation of the expected perceptual consequences of an action, critically involving bidirectional interplay of a given motor activity and corresponding sensory feedback. Among other evidence, we found that the required asymmetry in the bidirectional interplay between a given motor command and its expected sensory effect could rely on the specific activity of aMCC neurons when observing errors and successes. We confirm this hypothesis by presenting a pathological perspective, studying obsessive-compulsive and other related disorders in which hyperactivated and uniform aMCC activities should lead to a circular-reflex process that results in persistent ideas and repeated actions. By evaluating normal and pathological data, we propose considering the aMCC at a central position within the cerebral network involved in the ideomotor mechanism.

Exploring the role of verbal-semantic overlap in response-effect compatibility

According to ideomotor accounts, actions are cognitively represented by their sensory effects. The response-effect compatibility (R-E compatibility) paradigm investigates this notion by presenting predictable effect stimuli that are produced by the response ("response effects"). The R-E compatibility effect denotes the finding of better performance in R-E compatible conditions than in incompatible conditions, suggesting that anticipation of the effect stimulus primes the response. Most previous studies employed perceptual R-E overlap manipulations (e.g., spatial, temporal or phonological overlap of response and predictable response effect). In the present study, we examined verbal-semantic response-effect overlap. In Experiment 1, we used category words as vocal responses and semantically associated vs. non-associated exemplar words for auditory response effects (or exemplar words as responses and category words as effects, respectively) to manipulate verbal-semantic R-E overlap without perceptual-phonological similarity. In Experiments 2A and 2B, we used the response word also as an "identical" auditory effect word (i.e., both verbal-semantic and perceptual-phonological R-E overlap). An R-E compatibility effect was observed only when there was both verbal-semantic and perceptual-phonological R-E overlap. These data suggest that anticipation of perceptual response features may be critical in the R-E compatibility paradigm, whereas the role of verbal-semantic processes in response-effect anticipation still needs to be established more firmly. We discuss how perceptual and conceptual processes can interact in ideomotor control of action.

Manual dexterity predicts phonological decoding speed in typical reading adults

Manual dexterity and phonological decoding involve the posterior parietal cortex, which controls location coding for visually guided actions, as well as a large fronto-cerebellar network. We studied the relationship between manual dexterity and reading ability in adult typical readers. Two measurements of manual dexterity were collected to index the procedural learning effect. A linear regression model demonstrated that phonological short-term memory, manual dexterity at time 1 and procedural learning of manual dexterity predicted phonological decoding speed. Similar results were found when left-hand dexterity at time 1 and procedural learning dexterity were entered last. The better one's phonological decoding skill was, the less fluent their manual dexterity was, suggesting a recycle from object-location to letter-location coding. However, the greater the procedural learning, the faster phonological decoding was, suggesting that larger plasticity of object-location coding was linked to better letter-location coding. An independent role of the interhemispheric connections or of the right posterior parietal cortex is also suggested.

Are freely chosen actions generated by stimulus codes or effect codes?

A long-standing debate revolves around which mental codes allow humans to control behavior. The internal stimulus model (going back to Rudolf Hermann Lotze) proposes that behavior is controlled by codes of stimuli that had previously preceded corresponding motor activities. The internal effect model (going back to Emil Harleß) proposes that behavior is controlled by codes of perceptual effects that had previously resulted from corresponding motor activities. Here, we present a test of these two control models. We observed evidence for both models with stronger evidence for the internal stimulus model. We suggest that the proposed experimental setup might be a useful tool to study the relative strengths of stimulus control and effect control of behavior in various contexts.

Effects of Input Modality on Vocal Effector Prioritization in Manual-Vocal Dual Tasks

Doing two things at once (vs. one in isolation) usually yields performance costs. Such decrements are often distributed asymmetrically between the two actions involved, reflecting different processing priorities. A previous study (Huestegge & Koch, 2013) demonstrated that the particular effector systems associated with the two actions can determine the pattern of processing priorities: Vocal responses were prioritized over manual responses, as indicated by smaller performance costs (associated with dual-action demands) for the former. However, this previous study only involved auditory stimulation (for both actions). Given that previous research on input-output modality compatibility in dual tasks suggested that pairing auditory input with vocal output represents a particularly advantageous mapping, the question arises whether the observed vocal-over-manual prioritization was merely a consequence of auditory stimulation. To resolve this issue, we conducted a manual-vocal dual task study using either only auditory or only visual stimuli for both responses. We observed vocal-over-manual prioritization in both stimulus modality conditions. This suggests that input-output modality mappings can (to some extent) attenuate, but not abolish/reverse effector-based prioritization. Taken together, effector system pairings appear to have a more substantial impact on capacity allocation policies in dual-task control than input-output modality combinations.

Tool-number interaction during a prospective memory task

Theoretical views suggest that tool use and numerical magnitude processing can interact during prospective actions. For example, if a person intends to make a meal for several persons the next week, she/he will have to keep in mind during the homework-week large dish and large food portions for this event. Here, the magnitude 'large' can influence the future choice for large dishes and other related large tools. This study presents the first empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis. During a prospective memory task that implied to keep in mind a future action, participants were required to use a tool after processing Arabic numbers. Small (less than 5) and large (more than 5) magnitudes were employed as cues for the initiation of the tool-use task, which required participants to use inverse pliers with a small or a large object, but only for some prospective trials. The inverse pliers were used to dissociate the hand action from the tool action with the object (for example, opening the hand produced the closing action of the tool). The results revealed that during prospective trials, number processing interacted only with the tool action toward the object and not with the hand action. Specifically, after the processing of large magnitudes, the initiation of the closing action of the tool (i.e. the opening action of the hand) was reduced. This finding is discussed in the light of theories on the emergence of semantics through tool actions.

Modality compatibility biases voluntary choice of response modality in task switching

The term modality compatibility refers to the similarity between stimulus modality and the modality of response-related sensory consequences (e.g., vocal responses produce auditory effects). The previous results showed smaller task-switching costs when participants switched between modality compatible tasks (auditory-vocal and visual-manual) compared to switching between modality incompatible tasks (auditory-manual and visual-vocal). In the present study using a voluntary task-switching paradigm (VTS), participants chose the response modality (vocal or manual) to indicate the location of either a visual or an auditory stimulus. We examined whether free task choices were biased by modality compatibility, so that modality compatible tasks are preferred in VTS. The choice probability analysis indicated that participants tended to choose the response modality that is compatible to the stimulus modality. However, participants did not show a preference to repeat a stimulus-response (S-R) modality mapping, but to switch between modality compatibility (i.e., from S-R modality compatible mapping to S-R modality incompatible mapping and vice versa). More interestingly, even though participants freely chose the response modality, modality compatibility still influenced task-switching costs, showing larger costs with modality incompatible mappings. The finding that modality compatibility influenced choice behaviour suggests components of both top-down control and bottom-up effects of selecting a response modality for different stimulus modalities.

Action consequences affect the space-time congruency effect on reaction time

According to the metaphoric mapping hypothesis, people code time in terms of space. Consistent with this hypothesis, several reaction time studies have demonstrated that participants respond faster with a left (right) response to stimuli that convey temporal information about the past (future) than when this stimulus-response mapping is reversed (past → right, future → left). The present experiment examines whether the side of the response key or of the (visual) action effect elicited by the response is the crucial factor of this space-time congruency effect. In a response-effect (R-E) compatible group, a response to a temporal stimulus produced a visual action effect on the same side as the response location (left response → left action effect, right response → right action effect). In an R-E incompatible group, however, response and action effect occurred on opposite sides (left response → right action effect, right response → left action effect). A typical space-time congruency effect was obtained in the R-E compatible group, but the congruency effect interacted with group and was descriptively reversed in the R-E incompatible group. This result pattern suggests that the typical congruency effect is determined by the location of the action consequences rather than the location of the response key. Based on this result, we suggest that the space-time congruency effect is based on an abstract spatial mental representation that embraces action events in the external space.

Sensory-motor modality compatibility in multitasking: The influence of processing codes

Sensory-motor modality compatibility is defined as the similarity between the sensory modality and the modality of response-related effects. Previous dual-task and task-switching studies have shown higher performance costs for coordinating relatively incompatible sensory-motor modality mappings (i.e., auditory-manual and visual-vocal) compared to more compatible mappings (i.e., auditory-vocal and visual-manual). Until now, however, little attention has been paid to potential variability in effects of modality compatibility depending on different processing codes. In the present study, we independently varied the processing codes of input and output (nonverbal-spatial, nonverbal-nominal, verbal-spatial, verbal-nominal) while participants switched between incompatible and compatible sensory-motor modality mappings. Beside higher switch costs for switching between incompatible sensory-motor modality mappings than for switching between compatible mappings, the results revealed stronger effects of modality compatibility on switch costs for verbal input than for nonverbal input codes. This suggests that priming mechanisms between sensory input and compatible motor output are modulated by the processing code of the sensory input. As possible explanations, we assume a higher degree of concordance with output processing codes as well as stronger associations with potential response effects for verbal than for nonverbal input.

Exploring the representational basis of response-effect compatibility: Evidence from bilingual verbal response-effect mappings

The ideomotor principle states that actions are represented by their anticipated sensory effects. This notion is often tested using the response-effect compatibility (REC) paradigm, where participants' responses are followed either by a compatible or incompatible response effect (e.g., an effect on the right side after a right-hand response is considered R-E compatible due to the spatial overlap, whereas an effect on the left side after the right-hand response is considered incompatible). Shorter reaction times are typically observed in the compatible condition compared to the incompatible condition (i.e., REC effect), suggesting that effect anticipation plays a role in action control. Previous evidence from verbal REC suggested that effect anticipation can be due to conceptual R-E overlap, but there was also phonological overlap (i.e., anticipated reading of a word preceded by the vocal response of saying that very word). To examine the representational basis of REC, in three experiments, we introduced a bilingual R-E mapping to exclude phonological R-E overlap (i.e., in the R-E compatible condition, the translation equivalent of the response word is presented as an effect word in a different language). Our findings show that the REC effect is obtained when presenting the effect word in the same language as the response (i.e., monolingual condition), but the compatibility effect was not found when the semantically same word is presented in a different language, suggesting no conceptually generalized REC in a bilingual setting. (232 words).

The interplay of crossmodal attentional preparation and modality compatibility in cued task switching

Two experiments examined the influence of preparation on modality compatibility effects in task switching. The term modality compatibility refers to the similarity between the stimulus modality and the modality of response-related sensory consequences. Previous research showed evidence for modality compatibility benefits in task switching when participants switched either between two modality compatible tasks (auditory-vocal and visual-manual) or between two modality incompatible tasks (auditory-manual and visual-vocal). In this study, we investigated the influence of active preparation on modality compatibility effects in task switching. To this end, in Experiment 1, we introduced unimodal modality cues, whereas in Experiment 2, bimodal abstract cues were used. In both experiments, the cue-stimulus interval (CSI) was manipulated while holding the response-stimulus interval (RSI) constant. In both experiments, we found not only decreased switch costs with long CSI but also the elimination of the residual switch costs. More importantly, this preparation effect did not modulate the modality compatibility effect in task switching. To account for this data pattern, we assume that cue-based preparation of switches by modality mappings was highly effective and produced no residual reaction time (RT) costs with long CSI.

Investigating grounded conceptualization: motor system state-dependence facilitates familiarity judgments of novel tools

Theories of embodied cognition propose that we recognize tools in part by reactivating sensorimotor representations of tool use in a process of simulation. If motor simulations play a causal role in tool recognition then performing a concurrent motor task should differentially modulate recognition of experienced vs. non-experienced tools. We sought to test the hypothesis that an incompatible concurrent motor task modulates conceptual processing of learned vs. non-learned objects by directly manipulating the embodied experience of participants. We trained one group to use a set of novel, 3-D printed tools under the pretense that they were preparing for an archeological expedition to Mars (manipulation group); we trained a second group to report declarative information about how the tools are stored (storage group). With this design, familiarity and visual attention to different object parts was similar for both groups, though their qualitative interactions differed. After learning, participants made familiarity judgments of auditorily presented tool names while performing a concurrent motor task or simply sitting at rest. We showed that familiarity judgments were facilitated by motor state-dependence; specifically, in the manipulation group, familiarity was facilitated by a concurrent motor task, whereas in the spatial group familiarity was facilitated while sitting at rest. These results are the first to directly show that manipulation experience differentially modulates conceptual processing of familiar vs. unfamiliar objects, suggesting that embodied representations contribute to recognizing tools.

When the vibrations allow for anticipating the force to be produced: an extend to Pfister et al. (2014)

According to the ideomotor theory, action selection is done by the mental anticipation of its perceptual consequences. If the distal information processed mainly by vision and hearing are considered essential for the representation of the action, the proximal information processed by the sense of touch and proprioception is of less importance. Recent works seem to show the opposite. Nevertheless, it is necessary to complete these results by offering a situation, more ecological, where response and effect can occur on the same effector. So, the goal of our work was to implement a more relevant spatial correspondence because to touch is not the same action that to hear or to see. To do so, participants pressed a specific key after the presentation of a stimulus. The key vibrated depending on the pressure exerted on it. In a compatible condition, high pressure on a key triggered a high vibration, while in an incompatible condition high pressure triggered a low vibration on the same effectors. As expected, the response times were faster in the compatible condition than the incompatible condition. This means that proximal information participates actively in the selection of action.

Emerging features of modality mappings in task switching: modality compatibility requires variability at the level of both stimulus and response modality

The term modality compatibility refers to the similarity between the stimulus modality and the modality of response-related sensory consequences. Previous research showed evidence for modality compatibility benefits in task switching, when participants switch either between two modality compatible tasks (auditory-vocal and visual-manual) or between two modality incompatible tasks (auditory-manual and visual-vocal). However, it remained unclear whether there is also a modality compatibility benefit when participants switch between a modality compatible and an incompatible task. To this end, in Experiment 1, we kept the same design as in earlier studies, so participants had to switch either between modality compatible or modality incompatible spatial discrimination tasks, but in Experiment 2A, participants switched at the response level (manual/vocal) while we kept the stimulus modality constant across tasks, and in Experiment 2B, they switched at the stimulus level (visual/auditory) while we kept the response modality constant across tasks. We found increased switch costs in modality incompatible tasks in Experiment 1, but no such a difference between modality compatible and incompatible tasks in Experiment 2A and 2B, supporting the idea that modality incompatible tasks increase crosstalk, due to the response-based priming of the competing task, but this crosstalk is reduced if the competing task involves either the same stimulus modality or the same response modality. We conclude that a significant impact of modality compatibility in task switching requires variability at the level of both stimulus and response modality.

From anticipation to integration: the role of integrated action-effects in building sensorimotor contingencies

Ideomotor approaches to action control have provided evidence that the activation of an anticipatory image of previously learned action-effects plays a decisive role in action selection. This study sought for converging evidence by combining three previous experimental paradigms: the response-effect compatibility protocol introduced by Kunde (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(2), 387-394, 2001), the acquisition-test paradigm developed by Elsner and Hommel (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(1), 229, 2001), and the object-action compatibility manipulation of Tucker and Ellis (Visual Cognition, 8(6), 769-800, 2001). Three groups of participants first performed a response-effect compatibility task, in which they carried out power and precision grasps that produced either grasp-compatible or grasp-incompatible pictures, or no action effects. Performance was better in the compatible than in the incompatible group, which replicates previous observations and extends them to relationships between grasps and objects. Then, participants were to categorize object pictures by carrying out grasp responses. Apart from replicating previous findings of better performance in trials in which object size and grasp type was compatible, we found that this stimulus-response compatibility effect depended on previous response-effect learning. Taken together, these findings support the assumption that the experience of action-effect contingencies establishes durable event files that integrate representations of actions and their effects.

The Time Course of Spatial Attention Shifts in Elementary Arithmetic

It has been proposed that elementary arithmetic induces spatial shifts of attention. However, the timing of this arithmetic-space association remains unknown. Here we investigate this issue with a target detection paradigm. Detecting targets in the right visual field was faster than in the left visual field when preceded by an addition operation, while detecting targets in the left visual field was faster than in the right visual field when preceded by a subtraction operation. The arithmetic-space association was found both at the end of the arithmetic operation and during calculation. In contrast, the processing of operators themselves did not induce spatial biases. Our results suggest that the arithmetic-space association resides in the mental arithmetic operation rather than in the individual numbers or the operators. Moreover, the temporal course of this effect was different in addition and subtraction.

Exploring Modality Compatibility in the Response-Effect Compatibility Paradigm

According to ideomotor theory, action planning is based on anticipatory perceptual representations of action-effects. This aspect of action control has been investigated in studies using the response-effect compatibility (REC) paradigm, in which responses have been shown to be facilitated if ensuing perceptual effects share codes with the response based on dimensional overlap (i.e., REC). Additionally, according to the notion of ideomotor compatibility, certain response-effect (R-E) mappings will be stronger than others because some response features resemble the anticipated sensory response effects more strongly than others (e.g., since vocal responses usually produce auditory effects, an auditory stimulus should be anticipated in a stronger manner following vocal responses rather than following manual responses). Yet, systematic research on this matter is lacking. In the present study, two REC experiments aimed to explore the influence of R-E modality mappings. In Experiment 1, vocal number word responses produced visual effects on the screen (digits vs. number words; i.e., visual-symbolic vs. visual-verbal effect codes). The REC effect was only marginally larger for visual-verbal than for visual-symbolic effects. Using verbal effect codes in Experiment 2, we found that the REC effect was larger with auditory-verbal R-E mapping than with visual-verbal R-E mapping. Overall, the findings support the hypothesis of a role of R-E modality mappings in REC effects, suggesting both further evidence for ideomotor accounts as well as code-specific and modality-specific contributions to effect anticipation.

Creating semantics in tool use

This article presents the first evidence for a functional link between tool use and the processing of abstract symbols like Arabic numbers. Participants were required to perform a tool-use task after the processing of an Arabic number. These numbers represented either a small (2 or 3) or a large magnitude (8 or 9). The tool-use task consisted in using inverse pliers for gripping either a small or a large object. The inverse pliers enable to dissociate the hand action from the tool action in relation to the object (i.e., closing the hand led to an opening of the tool and vice versa). The number/tool hypothesis predicts that the quantity representation associated with Arabic numbers will interact with the action of the tool toward the object. Conversely, the number/hand hypothesis predicts that the quantity associated with numbers will interact with the action of the hand toward the tool. Results confirmed the first hypothesis and rejected the second. Indeed, large numbers interacted with the action of the tool, such that participants were longer to perform an "opening-hand/closing-tool" action after the processing of large numbers. Moreover, no effect was detected for small numbers, confirming previous studies which used only finger movements. Altogether, our finding suggests that the well-known finger/number interaction can be reversed with tool use.

Evidence for instructions-based updating of task-set representations: the informed fadeout effect

The cognitive system can be updated rapidly and efficiently to maximize performance in cognitive tasks. This paper used a task-switching task to explore updating at the level of the plausible task-sets held for future performance. Previous research suggested a "fadeout effect", performance improvement when moving from task-switching context to single-task context, yet this effect could reflect passive learning rather than intentional control. In a novel "informed fadeout paradigm", one of two tasks was canceled for a certain number of trials and participants were informed or uninformed regarding task cancelation. The "informed fadeout effect" indicates better performance in the informed than uninformed fadeout after one informed trial had been executed. However, the results regarding the first trial were inconclusive. Possible underlying mechanisms are discussed.

The ideomotor recycling theory for tool use, language, and foresight

The present theoretical framework highlights a common action-perception mechanism for tool use, spoken language, and foresight capacity. On the one hand, it has been suggested that human language and the capacity to envision the future (i.e. foresight) have, from an evolutionary viewpoint, developed mutually along with the pressure of tool use. This co-evolution has afforded humans an evident survival advantage in the animal kingdom because language can help to refine the representation of future scenarios, which in turn can help to encourage or discourage engagement in appropriate and efficient behaviours. On the other hand, recent assumptions regarding the evolution of the brain have capitalized on the concept of "neuronal recycling". In the domain of cognitive neuroscience, neuronal recycling means that during evolution, some neuronal areas and cognitive functions have been recycled to manage new environmental and social constraints. In the present article, we propose that the co-evolution of tool use, language, and foresight represents a suitable example of such functional recycling throughout a well-defined common action-perception mechanism, i.e. the ideomotor mechanism. This ideomotor account is discussed in light of different future ontogenetic and phylogenetic perspectives.

Loudness counts: Interactions between loudness, number magnitude, and space

ATOM (a theory of magnitude) suggests that magnitude information of different formats (numbers, space, and time) is processed within a generalized magnitude network. In this study we investigated whether loudness, as a possible indicator of intensity and magnitude, interacts with the processing of numbers. Small and large numbers, spoken in a quiet and a loud voice, were simultaneously presented to the left and right ear (Experiments 1a and 1b). Participants judged whether the number presented to the left or right ear was louder or larger. Responses were faster when the smaller number was spoken in a quiet voice, and the larger number in a loud voice. Thus, task-irrelevant numerical information influenced the processing of loudness and vice versa. This bi-directional link was also confirmed by classical SNARC paradigms (spatial-numerical association of response codes; Experiments 2a-2c) when participants again judged the magnitude or loudness of separately presented stimuli. In contrast, no loudness-number association was found in a parity judgment task. Regular SNARC effects were found in the magnitude and parity judgment task, but not in the loudness judgment task. Instead, in the latter task, response side was associated with loudness. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

The ideomotor recycling theory for language

For language acquisition and processing, the ideomotor theory predicts that the comprehension and the production of language are functionally based on their expected perceptual effects (i.e., linguistic events). This anticipative mechanism is central for action–perception behaviors in human and nonhuman animals, but a recent ideomotor recycling theory has emphasized a language account throughout an evolutionary perspective.

The role of sensory-motor modality compatibility in language processing

Language processing requires the combination of compatible (auditory-vocal and visual-manual) or incompatible (auditory-manual and visual-vocal) sensory-motor modalities, and switching between these sensory-motor modality combinations is very common in every-day life. Sensory-motor modality compatibility is defined as the similarity of stimulus modality and the modality of response-related sensory consequences. We investigated the influence of sensory-motor modality compatibility during performing language-related cognitive operations on different linguistic levels. More specifically, we used a variant of the task-switching paradigm, in which participants had to switch between compatible or between incompatible sensory-motor modality combinations during a verbal semantic categorization (Experiment 1) or during a word-form decision (Experiment 2). The data show higher switch costs (i.e., higher reaction times and error rates in switch trials compared to repetition trials) in incompatible sensory-motor modality combinations than in compatible sensory-motor modality combinations. This was true for every language-related cognitive operation, regardless of the individual linguistic level. Taken together, the present study demonstrates that sensory-motor modality compatibility plays an important role in modality switching during language processing.