Conditional and unconditional automaticity: a dual-process model of effects of spatial stimulus-response correspondence

Proactive reward in conflict tasks: Does it only enhance general performance or also modulate conflict effects?

In the present study, we investigated the influence of performance-contingent reward prospects on task performance across three visual conflict tasks with manual responses (Experiments 1 & 2: Simon and Stroop tasks; Experiment 3: Simon and Eriksen flanker task) using block-wise (Experiment 1) and trial-wise (Experiments 2 & 3) manipulations to signal the possibility of reward. Across all experiments, task performance (in reaction time and/or error rates) generally improved in reward compared with no-reward conditions in each conflict task. However, there was, if any, little evidence that the reward manipulation modulated the size of the mean conflict effects, and there was also no evidence for conflict-specific effects of reward when controlling for time-varying fluctuations in conflict processing via distributional analyses (delta plots). Thus, the results provide no evidence for conflict-specific accounts and instead favor performance-general accounts, where reward anticipation leads to overall performance improvements without affecting conflict effects. We discuss possible implications for how proactive control might modulate the interplay between target- and distractor-processing in conflict tasks.

Inhibitory dynamics in dual-route evidence accumulation account for response time distributions from conflict tasks

Laboratory data from conflict tasks, e.g. Simon and Eriksen tasks, reveal differences in response time distributions under different experimental conditions. Only recently have evidence accumulation models successfully reproduced these results, in particular the challenging delta plots with negative slopes. They accomplish this with explicit temporal dependencies in their structure or activation functions. In this work, we introduce an alternative approach to the modeling of decision-making in conflict tasks exclusively based on inhibitory dynamics within a dual-route architecture. We consider simultaneous automatic and controlled drift diffusion processes, with the latter inhibiting the former. Our proposed Dual-Route Evidence Accumulation Model (DREAM) achieves equivalent performance to previous works in fitting experimental response time distributions despite having no time-dependent functions. The model can reproduce conditional accuracy functions and delta plots with positive and negative slopes. The implications of these results, including an interpretation of the parameters and potential links to perceptual representations, are discussed. We provide Python code to fit DREAM to experimental data.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-023-09990-8.

EEG tensor decomposition delineates neurophysiological principles underlying conflict-modulated action restraint and action cancellation

Executive functions are essential for adaptive behavior. One executive function is the so-called 'interference control' or conflict monitoring another one is inhibitory control (i.e., action restraint and action cancelation). Recent evidence suggests an interplay of these processes, which is conceptually relevant given that newer conceptual frameworks imply that nominally different action/response control processes are explainable by a small set of cognitive and neurophysiological processes. The existence of such overarching neural principles has as yet not directly been examined. In the current study, we therefore use EEG tensor decomposition methods, to look into possible common neurophysiological signatures underlying conflict-modulated action restraint and action cancelation as mechanism underlying response inhibition. We show how conflicts differentially modulate action restraint and action cancelation processes and delineate common and distinct neural processes underlying this interplay. Concerning the spatial information modulations are similar in terms of an importance of processes reflected by parieto-occipital electrodes, suggesting that attentional selection processes play a role. Especially theta and alpha activity seem to play important roles. The data also show that tensor decomposition is sensitive to the manner of task implementation, thereby suggesting that switch probability/transitional probabilities should be taken into consideration when choosing tensor decomposition as analysis method. The study provides a blueprint of how to use tensor decomposition methods to delineate common and distinct neural mechanisms underlying action control functions using EEG data.

Exploring Effects of Age on Conflict Processing in the Light of Practice in a Large-Scale Dataset

INTRODUCTION

The possible decline of cognitive functions with age has been in the focus of cognitive research in the last decades. The present study investigated effects of aging on conflict processing in a big dataset of a Stroop-inspired online training task.

METHODS

We focused on the temporal dynamics of conflict processing in the light of task practice by means of inspecting delta plots and Lorenz-interference curves to gain insights on a process level.

RESULTS

The results indicate a relatively constant increase of cognitive conflict over the course of adulthood and a decrease with practice. Furthermore, the latency of the automatic processing of conflicting information relative to the controlled processing of task-relevant information decreases relatively constantly with age. This effect is moderated by practice, that is, the relative latency of the automatic processing decreases less with age at high practice levels.

CONCLUSION

As such, practice seems to be able to partially counteract age-related differences in conflict processing, on a process level.

Effects of Catecholaminergic and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Response Inhibition

BACKGROUND

The principle of gain control determines the efficiency of neuronal processing and can be enhanced with pharmacological or brain stimulation methods. It is a key factor for cognitive control, but the degree of how much gain control may be enhanced underlies a physical limit.

METHODS

To investigate whether methylphenidate (MPH) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) share common underlying mechanisms and cognitive effects, we administered MPH and anodal tDCS (atDCS) over the right inferior frontal gyrus both separately and combined, while healthy adult participants (n = 104) performed a response selection and inhibition task. The recorded EEG data were analyzed with a focus on theta band activity, and source estimation analyses were conducted.

RESULTS

The behavioral data show that MPH and atDCS revealed interactive effects on the ability to inhibit responses. Both MPH and atDCS modulated task-related theta oscillations in the supplementary motor area when applied separately, making a common underlying mechanism likely. When both stimulation methods were combined, there was no doubling of effects in the supplementary motor area but a shift to inferior frontal areas in the cortical network responsible for theta-driven processing.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that both MPH and atDCS likely share a common underlying neuronal mechanism, and interestingly, they demonstrate interactive effects when combined, which are most likely due to the physical limitations of gain control increases. The current study provides critical groundwork for future combined applications of MPH and non-invasive brain stimulation.

Response stopping under conflict: The integrative role of representational dynamics associated with the insular cortex

Coping with distracting inputs during goal-directed behavior is a common challenge, especially when stopping ongoing responses. The neural basis for this remains debated. Our study explores this using a conflict-modulation Stop Signal task, integrating group independent component analysis (group-ICA), multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), and EEG source localization analysis. Consistent with previous findings, we show that stopping performance is better in congruent (nonconflicting) trials than in incongruent (conflicting) trials. Conflict effects in incongruent trials compromise stopping more due to the need for the reconfiguration of stimulus-response (S-R) mappings. These cognitive dynamics are reflected by four independent neural activity patterns (ICA), each coding representational content (MVPA). It is shown that each component was equally important in predicting behavioral outcomes. The data support an emerging idea that perception-action integration in action-stopping involves multiple independent neural activity patterns. One pattern relates to the precuneus (BA 7) and is involved in attention and early S-R processes. Of note, three other independent neural activity patterns were associated with the insular cortex (BA13) in distinct time windows. These patterns reflect a role in early attentional selection but also show the reiterated processing of representational content relevant for stopping in different S-R mapping contexts. Moreover, the insular cortex's role in automatic versus complex response selection in relation to stopping processes is shown. Overall, the insular cortex is depicted as a brain hub, crucial for response selection and cancellation across both straightforward (automatic) and complex (conditional) S-R mappings, providing a neural basis for general cognitive accounts on action control.

Why is there an error negativity on correct trials? A reappraisal

In healthy subjects, the Error Negativity (Ne) was initially reported on errors and on partial errors, only. Later on, application of the Laplacian transformation to EEG data unmasked a Ne-like wave (Nc) that shares a main generator with the Ne, suggesting that the Nc is just a small Ne. However, the reason why a small Ne would persist on correct responses remains unclear. Now, sometimes, subthreshold EMG activations in the muscles corresponding to correct responses (not strong enough to reach the response threshold) can precede full-blown correct responses. These "partially correct" activities seem to correspond to (force) execution errors, as they evoke a sizeable Ne. Within the frames of the Reward Value and Prediction Model or of the Predicted Response-Outcome model we propose that the action monitoring system evokes a Ne/Nc on correct responses because, even when a correct choice has been made, the accuracy of response (force) execution cannot be fully predicted. If this interpretation is correct, it can be assumed that, once these execution errors have been corrected, the correctness of the (full-blown) correcting response is highly predictable. Consequently, they should evoke a smaller Nc/Ne than "pure" correct responses. We show, that for the response thresholds set in the present experiment, the correcting response of the trials containing a partially correct activation evoke no identifiable Nc at all. Therefore it seems that there usually is an Error Negativity on correct trials because the correctness of response (force) execution cannot be fully predicted.

Practice reduces the costs of producing head fakes in basketball

Previous research indicates that performing passes with a head fake in basketball leads to increased response initiation times and errors as compared to performing a pass without a head fake. These so-called fake production costs only occurred when not given the time to mentally prepare the deceptive movement. In the current study, we investigated if extensive practice could reduce the cognitive costs of producing a pass with head fake. Twenty-four basketball novices participated in an experiment on five consecutive days. A visual cue prompted participants to play a pass with or without a head fake either to the left or right side. The cued action had to be executed after an interstimulus interval (ISI) of either 0 ms, 400 ms, 800 ms or 1200 ms, allowing for different movement preparation times. Results indicated higher response initiation times (ITs) and error rates (ERs) for passes with head fakes for the short preparation intervals (ISI 0 ms and 400 ms) on the first day but no difference for the longer preparation intervals (ISI 800 ms and 1200 ms). After only one day of practice, participants showed reduced fake production costs (for ISI 0 ms) and were even able to eliminate these cognitive costs when given time to mentally prepare the movement (for ISI 400 ms). Accordingly, physical practice can reduce the cognitive costs associated with head-fake generation. This finding is discussed against the background of the strengthening of stimulus response associations.

Planning lane changes using advance visual and haptic information

Taking a motor planning perspective, this study investigates whether haptic force cues displayed on the steering wheel are more effective than visual cues in signaling the direction of an upcoming lane change. Licensed drivers drove in a fixed-base driving simulator equipped with an active steering system for realistic force feedback. They were instructed to make lane changes upon registering a directional cue. Cues were delivered according to the movement precuing technique employing a pair of precues and imperative cues which could be either visual, haptic, or crossmodal (a visual precue with a haptic imperative cue, and vice versa). The main dependent variable was response time. Additional analyses were conducted on steering wheel angle profiles and the rate of initial steering errors. Conditions with a haptic imperative cue produced considerably faster responses than conditions with a visual imperative cue, irrespective of the precue modality. Valid and invalid precues produced the typical gains and costs, with one exception. There appeared to be little cost in response time or initial steering errors associated with invalid cueing when both cues were haptic. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that imperative haptic cues facilitate action selection while visual stimuli require additional time-consuming cognitive processing.

Similarities of SNARC, cognitive Simon, and visuomotor Simon effects in terms of response time distributions, hand-stimulus proximity, and temporal dynamics

The spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) and Simon effects are attributed to the same type of conflict according to dimensional overlap (DO) theory: the congruency of task-irrelevant spatial information and the selected response (e.g., left or right). However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the relationship between the two effects, with some studies reporting an interaction while others did not. This discrepancy may be attributed to the use of different types of Simon effects (visuomotor and cognitive Simon effects) in these studies, as the spatial codes associated with these two types of Simon effects are distinct (exogenous and endogenous, respectively). The aim of this study was to address these inconsistencies and gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences in spatial representations generated by spatial location, semantic information, and numerical information. We attempted to classify the relationships among the SNARC and Simon effects. Specifically, the visuomotor Simon, cognitive Simon, and SNARC effects were compared from three perspectives: the response time (RT) distribution, hand-stimulus proximity, and temporal dynamics (with the drift diffusion model; DDM). Regarding RTs, the results showed that the visuomotor Simon effect decreased with increased values of RT bins, while the cognitive Simon and SNARC effects increased. Additionally, the visuomotor Simon effect was the only effect influenced by hand-stimulus proximity, with a stronger effect observed in the hand-proximal condition than in the hand-distal condition. Regarding the DDM results, only the visuomotor Simon effect exhibited a higher drift rate and longer non-decision time in the incompatible condition than in the compatible condition. Conversely, both the SNARC and cognitive Simon effects exhibited an inverse pattern regarding the drift rate and no significant difference in non-decision time between the two conditions. These findings suggest that the SNARC effect is more similar to the cognitive Simon effect than the visuomotor Simon effect, indicating that the endogenous spatial-numerical representation of the SNARC effect might share an underlying processing mechanism with the endogenous spatial-semantic representation of the cognitive Simon effect but not with the exogenous location representation of the visuomotor Simon effect. Our results further demonstrate that the origin of spatial information could impact the classification of conflicts and supplement DO theory.

Is there a lower visual field advantage for object affordances? A registered report

It's been repeatedly shown that pictures of graspable objects can facilitate visual processing, even in the absence of reach-to-grasp actions, an effect often attributed to the concept of affordances. A classic demonstration of this is the handle compatibility effect, characterised by faster reaction times when the orientation of a graspable object's handle is compatible with the hand used to respond, even when the handle orientation is task-irrelevant. Nevertheless, it is debated whether the speeded reaction times are a result of affordances or spatial compatibility. First, we investigated whether we could replicate the handle compatibility effect while controlling for spatial compatibility. Participants (N = 68) responded with left or right-handed keypresses to whether the object was upright or inverted and, in separate blocks, whether the object was red or green. We failed to replicate the handle compatibility effect, with no significant difference between compatible and incompatible conditions, in both tasks. Second, we investigated whether there is a lower visual field (VF) advantage for the handle compatibility effect in line with what has been found for hand actions. A further 68 participants responded to object orientation presented either in the upper or lower VF. A significant handle compatibility effect was observed in the lower VF, but not the upper VF. This suggests that there is a lower VF advantage for affordances, possibly as the lower VF is where our actions most frequently occur. However, future studies should explore the impact of eye movements on the handle compatibility effect and tool affordances.

Effects of alerting signals on the spatial Stroop effect: evidence for modality differences

Reaction times and error rates to a target's identity are impaired when the target is presented in a location that mismatches the response required, relative to situations where the location of the target and required response overlap (the Simon effect) and the same is true when the target's identity conveys spatial information (the spatial Stroop effect). Prior studies have found that visual versions of the spatial Stroop effect are magnified when alerting cues appear before the target and results are consistent with a dual-route framework where alerting cues boost automatic stimulus-response motor associations through the direct processing route. However, the influence of alerting signals on auditory versions of the spatial Stroop effect have not been tested and there are reasons to believe that the alerting-congruency interaction may differ across stimulus modality. In two experiments the effects of alerting cues on auditory (Experiment 1; N = 98) and visual (Experiment 2; N = 97) spatial Stroop effects are examined. Results show that alerting cues boost the spatial Stroop effect with visual stimuli but not auditory stimuli and a distributional analysis provides support for there being modality differences in the decay (or inhibition) of response-code activation. Implications for explanations of the alerting-congruence interaction are discussed.

Spatial Response Discrimination May Elicit a Simon Effect on a Non-Complementary Task

When paired participants are each assigned a complementary half of the Simon task, a joint Simon effect (JSE) has been observed. Co-representation, a cognitive representation of not only one's own task but also that of the co-actor, has been one of several proposed mechanisms in the JSE. Using the response-discrimination hypothesis as a framework, we tested whether it was sufficient to highlight alternative task keys in a two-person setting in which a non-complementary task was completed to elicit a Simon effect (SE). In our design, the participant's role was to perform the Go/No-Go Simon task and the co-actor's role was to initiate each trial for the participant. In one two-person setting participant group (SK group), the same task key was assigned to both the participant and the co-actor; another group (OK) was assigned spatially opposite task keys. In a third group (joint setting, TS group), the standard joint Simon task was also completed to verify that a JSE could be replicated. We hypothesized that an SE would be elicited in the OK group, since opposite task keys would uniquely promote spatial coding. We found a weak but marginally significant SE in the OK group but not in the SK group. These results suggest that, on a non-complementary task, response discrimination may contribute to the emergence of a SE in a two-person setting, while it does not have the same impact as a complementary task completed in a joint setting (TS group) that may afford more robust response representations that reveal the enhanced so-called JSE.

A revised diffusion model for conflict tasks

The recently developed diffusion model for conflict tasks (DMC) Ulrich et al. (Cognitive Psychology, 78, 148-174, 2015) provides a good account of data from all standard conflict tasks (e.g., Stroop, Simon, and flanker tasks) within a common evidence accumulation framework. A central feature of DMC's processing dynamics is that there is an initial phase of rapid accumulation of distractor evidence that is then selectively withdrawn from the decision mechanism as processing continues. We argue that this assumption is potentially troubling because it could be viewed as implying qualitative changes in the representation of distractor information over the time course of processing. These changes suggest more than simple inhibition or suppression of distractor information, as they involve evidence produced by distractor processing "changing sign" over time. In this article, we (a) develop a revised DMC (RDMC) whose dynamics operate strictly within the limits of inhibition/suppression (i.e., evidence strength can change monotonically, but cannot change sign); (b) demonstrate that RDMC can predict the full range of delta plots observed in the literature (i.e., both positive-going and negative-going); and (c) show that the model provides excellent fits to Simon and flanker data used to benchmark the original DMC at both the individual and group level. Our model provides a novel account of processing differences across Simon and flanker tasks. Specifically, that they differ in how distractor information is processed on congruent trials, rather than incongruent trials: congruent trials in the Simon task show relatively slow attention shifting away from distractor information (i.e., location) while complete and rapid attention shifting occurs in the flanker task. Our new model highlights the importance of considering dynamic interactions between top-down goals and bottom-up stimulus effects in conflict processing.

Fast habituation to semantic interference generated by taboo connotation in reading aloud

The recognition of taboo words - i.e. socially inappropriate words - has been repeatedly associated to semantic interference phenomena, with detrimental effects on the performance in the ongoing task. In the present study, we investigated taboo interference in the context of reading aloud, a task configuration which prompts the overt violation of conventional sociolinguistic norms by requiring the explicit utterance of taboo items. We assessed whether this form of semantic interference is handled by habituative or cognitive control processes. In addition to the reading aloud task, participants performed a vocal Stroop task featuring different conditions to dissociate semantic, task, and response conflict. Taboo words were read slower than non-taboo words, but this effect was subject to a quick habituation, with a decreasing interference over the course of trials, which allowed participants to selectively attend to goal-relevant information. In the Stroop task, only semantic conflict was significantly reduced by habituation. These findings suggest that semantic properties can be quickly and flexibly weighed on the basis of contextual appropriateness, thus characterising semantic processing as a flexible and goal-directed component of reading aloud.

Exploring behavioral adjustments of proportion congruency manipulations in an Eriksen flanker task with visual and auditory distractor modalities

The present study investigated global behavioral adaptation effects to conflict arising from different distractor modalities. Three experiments were conducted using an Eriksen flanker paradigm with constant visual targets, but randomly varying auditory or visual distractors. In Experiment 1, the proportion of congruent to incongruent trials was varied for both distractor modalities, whereas in Experiments 2A and 2B, this proportion congruency (PC) manipulation was applied to trials with one distractor modality (inducer) to test potential behavioral transfer effects to trials with the other distractor modality (diagnostic). In all experiments, mean proportion congruency effects (PCEs) were present in trials with a PC manipulation, but there was no evidence of transfer to diagnostic trials in Experiments 2A and 2B. Distributional analyses (delta plots) provided further evidence for distractor modality-specific global behavioral adaptations by showing differences in the slope of delta plots with visual but not auditory distractors when increasing the ratio of congruent trials. Thus, it is suggested that distractor modalities constrain global behavioral adaptation effects due to the learning of modality-specific memory traces (e.g., distractor-target associations) and/or the modality-specific cognitive control processes (e.g., suppression of modality-specific distractor-based activation). Moreover, additional analyses revealed partial transfer of the congruency sequence effect across trials with different distractor modalities suggesting that distractor modality may differentially affect local and global behavioral adaptations.

Responding, fast and slow: Visual detection and localization performance is unaffected by retrieval

According to action control theories, responding to a stimulus leads to the binding of the response and stimulus features into an event file. Repeating any component of the latter retrieves previous information, affecting ongoing performance. Based on years of attentional orienting research, recent boundaries of such binding theories have been proposed as binding effects are fully absent in visual detection (e.g., Schöpper et al., 2020, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 82(4), 2085-2097) and localization (e.g., Schöpper & Frings, 2022; Visual Cognition, 30(10), 641-658) performance. While this can be attributed to specific task demands, the possibility remains that retrieval of previous event files is hampered in such tasks due to overall fast responding. In the current study we instructed participants to signal the detection (Experiment 1) and location (Experiment 2) of dots orthogonally repeating or changing their nonspatial identity and location. Crucially, the dots were either hard or easy to perceive. As expected, making targets hard to perceive drastically slowed down detection and localization response speed. Importantly, binding effects were absent irrespective of perceptibility. In contrast, discriminating the nonspatial identity of targets (Experiment 3) showed strong binding effects. These results highlight the impact of task-dependence for binding approaches in action control.

Bound to a spider without its web: Task-type modulates the retrieval of affective information in subsequent responses

Action control theories assume that upon responding to a stimulus response and stimulus features are integrated into a short episodic memory trace; repeating any component spurs on retrieval, affecting subsequent performance. The resulting so-called "binding effects" are reliably observed in discrimination tasks. In contrast, in localization performance, these effects are absent and only inhibition of return (IOR) emerges - a location change benefit. Affective information has been found to modulate binding effects; yet a modulation of IOR has led to mixed results, with many finding no influence at all. In the current study, participants discriminated letters (Experiment 1) or localized dots (Experiment 2) on a touchpad in prime-probe sequences. During the prime display two images - one with fruits and one with a spider - appeared, one of which spatially congruent with the to-be-touched area. In the discrimination task, previously touching a spider compared to a fruit slowed down response repetitions. In contrast, the localization task only showed IOR. This suggests that task-irrelevant valence is integrated with the response and affects subsequent responses due to retrieval. However, this is not ubiquitous but depends on task type. The results shed further light on the impact of affective information on actions.

The Role of a Dopamine-Dependent Limbic-Motor Network in Sensory Motor Processing in Parkinson Disease

Limbic and motor integration is enabled by a mesial temporal to motor cortex network. Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by a loss of dorsal striatal dopamine but relative preservation of mesolimbic dopamine early in disease, along with changes to motor action control. Here, we studied 47 patients with PD using the Simon conflict task and [18F]fallypride PET imaging. Additionally, a cohort of 16 patients participated in a single-blinded dextroamphetamine (dAMPH) study. Task performance was evaluated using the diffusion model for conflict tasks, which allows for an assessment of interpretable action control processes. First, a voxel-wise examination disclosed a negative relationship, such that longer non-decision time is associated with reduced D2-like binding potential (BPND) in the bilateral putamen, left globus pallidus, and right insula. Second, an ROI analysis revealed a positive relationship, such that shorter non-decision time is associated with reduced D2-like BPND in the amygdala and ventromedial OFC. The difference in non-decision time between off-dAMPH and on-dAMPH trials was positively associated with D2-like BPND in the globus pallidus. These findings support the idea that dysfunction of the traditional striatal-motor loop underlies action control deficits but also suggest that a compensatory parallel limbic-motor loop regulates motor output.

Novelty and learning in cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task

While information that is associated with inappropriate responses can interfere with an ongoing task and be detrimental to performance, cognitive control mechanisms and specific contextual conditions can alleviate interference from unwanted information. In the spatial correspondence (Simon) task, interference has been consistently shown to be reduced by spatial non-correspondence in the previous trial (i.e., correspondence sequence effect, CSE); however the mechanisms supporting this sequential effect are not well understood. Here we investigated the role of novelty and trial-to-trial changes in stimulus and response features in a Simon task, observing similar modulation of CSE for novel and non-novel stimulus changes. However, changing the response modality from trial to trial dampened CSE, and this dampening was more pronounced when the probability of switch trials was higher, suggesting a role for long-term learning. The results are consistent with recent accounts, which indicate that spatial interference can be prevented by cognitive control mechanisms triggered by learned bindings.

Mask-related costs in measuring preview benefit: Evidence from a distributional analysis based on target word reading times

Skilled reading involves processing the upcoming word in parafoveal vision before it is fixated, leading to shorter fixations on that word. This phenomenon, parafoveal preview benefit, is a key component of theoretical models of reading; it is measured using the invisible boundary paradigm, in which reading times on a target word are compared for instances when preview is accurate and when the target word is masked while in the parafovea. However, parafoveal masks have been shown to induce unintentional processing costs, thereby inflating measures of preview benefit. The degraded mask has been explored as a potential solution to this problem, leading to mixed results. While previous work has analyzed the preview effect by comparing mean reading times on the target word, the present study provides a more comprehensive analysis by examining the distribution of the preview effect across target word fixation times for unrelated and degraded masks. Participants read sentences containing target words whose preview was either identical, unrelated, or degraded, and their eye movements were recorded. Analyses revealed that although there were no mean differences between reading times for the unrelated and degraded conditions, the pattern of the effects varied as a function of target word fixation times. Unrelated masks resulted in positively sloped generally linear delta plots, while degraded masks resulted in relatively flat delta plots for fixations longer than 200 ms. These differences suggest that different cognitive mechanisms are involved in the processing of the two mask types. Implications for understanding and measuring preview benefit are discussed.

Learning of irrelevant stimulus-response associations modulates cognitive control

It has been shown that manipulating the proportion of congruent to incongruent trials in conflict tasks (e.g., Stroop, Simon, and flanker tasks) can vary the size of conflict effects, however, by two different mechanisms. One theory is the control learning account (the brain learns the probability of conflict and uses it to proactively adjust the control demand for future trials). The other is the irrelevant stimulus-response learning account (the brain learns the probability of irrelevant stimulus-response associations and uses it to prepare responses). Previous fMRI studies have detected the brain regions that contribute to the control-learning-modulated conflict effects, but it is less known what neural substrates underlie the conflict effects modulated by irrelevant S-R learning. We here investigated this question with a model-based fMRI study, in which the proportion of congruent to incongruent trials changed dynamically in the Simon task and the models learned the probability of irrelevant S-R associations quantitatively. Behavioral analyses showed that the unsigned prediction errors (PEs) of responses generated by the learning models correlated with reaction times irrespective of congruent and incongruent trials, indicating that large unsigned PEs associated with slow responses. The fMRI results showed that the regions of fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular network involved in cognitive control were significantly modulated by the unsigned PEs, also irrespective of congruent and incongruent trials, indicating that large unsigned PEs associated with transiently increased activity in these regions. These results together suggest that learning of irrelevant S-R associations modulates reactive control, which demonstrates a new way to modulate cognitive control compared to the control learning account.

An Evidence Accumulation Account of Masked Translation Priming in Two Bilingual Populations

This manuscript addresses the phenomenon of masked priming and the cognitive process of switching from Spanish to English while reading in sequential bilingual texts compared to heritage speakers. A lexical decision task was employed in the present study with masked translation priming, which serves as a valuable tool for elucidating the orthographic and lexical processes involved in the initial stages of reading. This study builds upon previous research conducted on monolingual masked priming, which consistently demonstrates shifts in the response time (RT) distributions when comparing related and unrelated primes. Within the framework of a diffusion model, we implemented two theoretical positions. First, we posited that translation priming operates at the orthographic level, resulting in enhanced efficiency during the encoding process. Second, we explored the possibility that translation priming operates at the semantic level, influencing the accumulation of evidence during the lexical decision task. The findings of the present study indicate that translation priming elicits outcomes similar to those observed in monolingual priming paradigms. Specifically, we observed that translation priming facilitation is manifested as shifts in the RT distributions. These findings are interpreted to suggest that the benefits derived from the encoding process are not specific to the accessed lexicon following a brief stimulus presentation.

Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the differential effect of reward prospect on response selection and inhibition

Reward and cognitive control play crucial roles in shaping goal-directed behavior. Yet, the behavioral and neural underpinnings of interactive effects of both processes in driving our actions towards a particular goal have remained rather unclear. Given the importance of inhibitory control, we investigated the effect of reward prospect on the modulatory influence of automatic versus controlled processes during response inhibition. For this, a performance-contingent monetary reward for both correct response selection and response inhibition was added to a Simon NoGo task, which manipulates the relationship of automatic and controlled processes in Go and NoGo trials. A neurophysiological approach was used by combining EEG temporal signal decomposition and source localization methods. Compared to a non-rewarded control group, rewarded participants showed faster response execution, as well as overall lower response selection and inhibition accuracy (shifted speed-accuracy tradeoff). Interestingly, the reward group displayed a larger interference of the interactive effects of automatic versus controlled processes during response inhibition (i.e., a larger Simon NoGo effect), but not during response selection. The reward-specific behavioral effect was mirrored by the P3 amplitude, underlining the importance of stimulus-response association processes in explaining variability in response inhibition performance. The selective reward-induced neurophysiological modulation was associated with lower activation differences in relevant structures spanning the inferior frontal and parietal cortex, as well as higher activation differences in the somatosensory cortex. Taken together, this study highlights relevant neuroanatomical structures underlying selective reward effects on response inhibition and extends previous reports on the possible detrimental effect of reward-triggered performance trade-offs on cognitive control processes.

Huntington disease exacerbates action impulses

Background

Impulsivity is a common clinical feature of Huntington disease (HD), but the underlying cognitive dynamics of impulse control in this population have not been well-studied.

Objective

To investigate the temporal dynamics of action impulse control in HD patients using an inhibitory action control task.

Methods

Sixteen motor manifest HD patients and seventeen age-matched healthy controls (HC) completed the action control task. We applied the activation-suppression theoretical model and distributional analytic techniques to differentiate the strength of fast impulses from their top-down suppression.

Results

Overall, HD patients produced slower and less accurate reactions than HCs. HD patients also exhibited an exacerbated interference effect, as evidenced by a greater slowing of RT on non-corresponding compared to corresponding trials. HD patients made more fast, impulsive errors than HC, evidenced by significantly lower accuracy on their fastest reaction time trials. The slope reduction of interference effects as reactions slowed was similar between HD and controls, indicating preserved impulse suppression.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that patients with HD show a greater susceptibility to act rapidly on incorrect motor impulses but preserved proficiency of top-down suppression. Further research is needed to determine how these findings relate to clinical behavioral symptoms.

Examining the automaticity and symmetry of sound-shape correspondences

Introduction

A classic example of sound-shape correspondences is the mapping of the vowel /i/ with angular patterns and the vowel /u/ with rounded patterns. Such crossmodal correspondences have been reliably reported when tested in explicit matching tasks. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether such sound-shape correspondences automatically occur and bidirectionally modulate people's perception. We address this question by adopting the explicit matching task and two implicit tasks.

Methods

In Experiment 1, we examined the sound-shape correspondences using the implicit association test (IAT), in which the sounds and shapes were both task-relevant, followed by an explicit matching task. In Experiments 2 and 3, we adopted the speeded classification task; when the target was a sound (or shape), a task-irrelevant shape (or sound) that was congruent or incongruent to the target was simultaneously presented. In addition, the participants performed the explicit matching task either before or after the speeded classification task.

Results and Discussion

The congruency effect was more pronounced in the IAT than in the speeded classification task; in addition, a bin analysis of RTs revealed that the congruency effect took time to develop. These findings suggest that the sound-shape correspondences were not completely automatic. The magnitude and onset of visual and auditory congruency effects were comparable, suggesting that the crossmodal modulations were symmetrical. Taken together, the sound-shape correspondences appeared not to be completely automatic, but their modulation was bidirectionally symmetrical once it occurred.

A Diffusion Model Analysis of Object-Based Selective Attention in the Eriksen Flanker Task

Selective attention might be space-, feature-, and/or object-based. Clear support for the involvement of an object-based mechanism is rather scarce, possibly because the predictions of models from these different classes often overlap. Yet, only object-based models can account for a larger congruency effect (CE) in the Eriksen flanker task when flankers are more (vs. less) strongly grouped to the target, but spacing and other response-irrelevant features of target and flankers are held constant. Exactly this was observed by Kramer and Jacobson (1991). So far, this theoretically relevant finding has not been replicated closely. We replicated the finding in two web-based experiments. Specifically, CEs were larger when flanker lines were connected to the central target line (vs. to outer neutral lines). We also successfully fitted the Diffusion Model for Conflict tasks (DMC) to the experimental data. Critically, diffusion modeling (DMC) and distributional analyses (delta functions) revealed that object membership primarily affected target processing strength rather than strength or timing of flanker processing. This challenges the prominent attentional spreading (sensory enhancement) account of object-based selective attention and motivates an alternative target attenuation account.

Space is a late heuristic of elapsing time: New evidence from the STEARC effect

To get a concrete representation of its intangible flow, culture frames elapsing time along spatially oriented mental or graphical lines, which are organised according to reading habits, from left to right in western cultures. One of the strongest evidence for this spatial representation of time is the STEARC effect (Spatial-Temporal Association of Response Codes), which consists of faster coding of "short" durations with motor responses in the left side of space and of "long" durations with responses in the right side. Here, we investigated the STEARC as a function of response speed in two different experiments in healthy participants. Surprisingly, in both sub- and supra-second ranges, we found the STEARC only when decisions on time durations were slow, while no spatial representation of time was present with fast decisions. This first demonstrates that space slowly takes over faster non-spatial processing of time flow and that it is possible to empirically separate the behavioural manifestations of the non-spatial and the nurtured spatial mechanisms of time coding.

What Simon "knows" about cultural differences: The influence of cultural orientation and traffic directionality on spatial compatibility effects

Previous research has suggested that culture influences perception and attention. These studies have typically involved comparisons of Westerners with East Asians, motivated by assumed differences in the cultures' self-concept or position on the individualism-collectivism spectrum. However, other potentially important sources of cultural variance have been neglected, such as differences in traffic directionality shaped by the urban spatial environment (i.e., left-hand vs. right-hand traffic). Thus, existing research may potentially place too much emphasis on self-concepts or the individualism-collectivism dimension in explaining observed cultural differences in cognition. The present study investigated spatial cognition using a Simon task and tested participants from four nations (Australia, China, Germany, and Malaysia) that differ in both cultural orientation (collectivistic vs. individualistic) and traffic directionality (left-hand vs. right-hand traffic). The task used two possible reference frames underlying the Simon effect: a body-centered one based on global stimulus position relative to the screen's center versus an object-centered one based on local stimulus position relative to a context object. As expected, all groups showed a reliable Simon effect for both spatial reference frames. However, the global Simon effect was larger in participants from countries with left-hand traffic. In contrast, the local Simon effect was modulated by differences in cultural orientation, with larger effects in participants from collectivistic cultures. This pattern suggests that both sources of cultural variation, viz. cultural orientation and traffic directionality, contribute to differences in spatial cognition in distinct ways.

Visual filtering in time and space among persons with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) appear to perform at a level that is commensurate with developmental expectations on simple tasks of selective attention. In this study, we examine how their selective attention is impacted by target changes that unfold over both time and space. This increased complexity reflects an attempt at greater ecological validity in an experimental task, as a steppingstone for better understanding attention among persons with DS in real-world environments.

METHODS

A modified flanker task was used to assess visual temporal and spatial filtering among persons with DS (n = 14) and typically developing individuals (n = 14) matched on non-verbal mental age (mental age = 8.5 years). Experimental conditions included varying the stimulus onset asynchronies between the onset of the target and flankers, the distances between the target and flankers, and the similarity of the target and flankers.

RESULTS

Both the participants with DS and the typically developing participants showed slower reaction times and lower accuracy rates when the flankers appeared closer in time and/or space to the target.

CONCLUSION

No group differences were found on a broad level, but the findings suggest that dynamic stimuli may be processed differently by those with DS. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the developmental approach to intellectual disability originally articulated by Ed Zigler.

The effect of reducing attentional resources on selective suppression in the Simon task

Studies using reaction times (RTs) distribution methods find that the Simon effect is greater for fast RTs and becomes smaller or reversed for slow RTs. However, the exact mechanisms responsible for this reduction are under debate. This study addressed the issue of whether attentional resources play a role in reduction of the Simon effect over time by investigating whether it is influenced by attentional constraints in a dual-task paradigm. Participants were instructed to perform a Simon task concurrently with a secondary task. Secondary task characteristics were manipulated by varying the overlap between the secondary task and the Simon task. Specifically, secondary tasks varied in their stimulus modality (auditory or visual) and/or response type (verbal or manual and lateralised or not). Distribution analyses of RTs, in the form of delta-plot functions, were performed for both the single- and dual-task conditions. Results showed that the more attention the secondary task demanded, the less the Simon effect was reduced, even for slower RTs. This suggests that the mechanisms responsible for the reduction of Simon effect over time are under top-down control.

Alcohol-induced deficits in reactive control of response selection and inhibition are counteracted by a seemingly paradox increase in proactive control

High-dose alcohol intoxication reduces cognitive control, including inhibition. Although inhibition deficits may contribute to the behavioral deficits commonly observed in alcohol use disorder (AUD), many questions about potentially modulating factors have remained unanswered. We examined the effects of experimentally induced high-dose alcohol intoxication (~ 1.1 ‰) on the interplay between controlled vs. automatic response selection and inhibition in healthy young men. A holistic EEG-based theta activity analysis that considered both reactive control during task performance and preceding proactive control processes was run. It revealed a previously unknown seesaw relationship, with decreased reactive control, but paradoxically increased proactive control. Most importantly, alcohol-induced increases in proactive occipital theta band power were associated with reductions in negative alcohol effects on reactive control processes associated with decreased activity in the SMA and medial frontal cortex. Our findings demonstrate that research should not solely focus on immediate effects during task performance. Aside from differential neurobiochemical and neuroanatomical effects of alcohol, it is also conceivable that proactive control may have been recruited in a (secondary) response to compensate for alcohol-induced impairments in reactive control. Against this background, it could be promising to investigate changes in such compensatory mechanisms in pronounced alcohol-associated inhibition deficits, like in AUD patients.

How Does the Presence of Others Influence Control Inhibition? Contradictory Evidence Using an Antisaccade and Stop Signal Task

Inhibitory control (IC) is defined as the (in)ability to change, suppress, or delay a response that is no longer required under the current circumstances. This ability was previously argued to increase in social contexts, based on Stroop's performance, showing that participants performed the Stroop task better in others' presence than alone. In this paper, we extend the testing of this same hypothesis to the use of two other tasks that Mitake et al. (2000) show to grasp the same IC ability; the Antisaccade and Stop signal tasks. If Stroop's performance was capturing the impact of the presence of others on CI abilities, the effect would generalize to performance on these tasks. This hypothesis was only generally supported by stop signal task performance; those in the presence condition were significantly more efficient than those in the alone conditions. For the Antisaccade tasks, evidence shows that higher levels of interference occurs in the presence of others condition for participants' fastest responses We discuss how this evidence contributes to the literature suggesting that the two tasks may index different constructs.

Does online masked priming pass the test? The effects of prime exposure duration on masked identity priming

Masked priming is one of the most important paradigms in the study of visual word recognition, but it is usually thought to require a laboratory setup with a known monitor and keyboard. To test if this technique can be safely used in an online setting, we conducted two online masked priming lexical decision task experiments using PsychoPy/PsychoJS (Peirce et al., 2019). Importantly, we also tested the role of prime exposure duration (33.3 vs. 50 ms in Experiment 1 and 16.7 vs. 33.3 ms in Experiment 2), thus allowing us to examine both across conditions and within-conditions effects. We found that our online data are indeed very similar to the masked priming data previously reported in the masked priming literature. Additionally, we found a clear effect of prime duration, with the priming effect (measured in terms of response time and accuracy) being stronger at 50 ms than 33.3 ms and no priming effect at 16.7 ms prime duration. From these results, we can conclude that modern online browser-based experimental psychophysics packages (e.g., PsychoPy) can present stimuli and collect responses on standard end user devices with enough precision. These findings provide us with confidence that masked priming can be used online, thus allowing us not only to run less time-consuming experiments, but also to reach populations that are difficult to test in a laboratory.

Same, but different: Binding effects in auditory, but not visual detection performance

Responding to a stimulus leads to the integration of response and stimulus' features into an event file. Upon repetition of any of its features, the previous event file is retrieved, thereby affecting ongoing performance. Such integration-retrieval explanations exist for a number of sequential tasks (that measure these processes as 'binding effects') and are thought to underlie all actions. However, based on attentional orienting literature, Schöpper, Hilchey, et al. (2020) could show that binding effects are absent when participants detect visual targets in a sequence: In visual detection performance, there is simply a benefit for target location changes (inhibition of return). In contrast, Mondor and Leboe (2008) had participants detect auditory targets in a sequence, and found a benefit for frequency repetition - presumably reflecting a binding effect in auditory detection performance. In the current study, we conducted two experiments, that only differed in the modality of the target: Participants signaled the detection of a sound (N = 40) or of a visual target (N = 40). Whereas visual detection performance showed a pattern incongruent with binding assumptions, auditory detection performance revealed a non-spatial feature repetition benefit, suggesting that frequency was bound to the response. Cumulative reaction time distributions indicated that the absence of a binding effect in visual detection performance was not caused by overall faster responding. The current results show a clear limitation to binding accounts in action control: Binding effects are not only limited by task demands, but can entirely depend on target modality.

Motor demands influence conflict processing in a mouse-tracking Simon task

Previous studies have shown incorrect motor activation when making perceptual decisions under conflict, but the potential involvement of motor processes in conflict resolution is still unclear. The present study tested whether the effects of distracting information may be reduced when anticipated motor processing demands increase. Specifically, across two mouse-tracking Simon experiments, we manipulated blockwise motor demands (high vs. low) by requiring participants to move a mouse cursor to either large versus small (Experiment 1) or near versus far (Experiment 2) response boxes presented on the screen. We reasoned that participants would increase action control in blocks with high versus low motor demands and that this would reduce the distracting effect of location-based activation. The results support this hypothesis: Simon effects were reduced under high versus low motor demands and this modulation held even when controlling for time-varying fluctuations in distractor-based activation via distributional analyses (i.e., delta plots). Thus, the present findings indicate that anticipation of different motor costs can influence conflict processing. We propose that the competition between distractor-based and target-based activation is biased at premotor and/or motor stages in anticipation of motor demands, but also discuss alternative implementations of action control.

On the Role of Stimulus-Response Context in Inhibitory Control in Alcohol Use Disorder

The behavioral and neural dynamics of response inhibition deficits in alcohol use disorder (AUD) are still largely unclear, despite them possibly being key to the mechanistic understanding of the disorder. Our study investigated the effect of automatic vs. controlled processing during response inhibition in participants with mild-to-moderate AUD and matched healthy controls. For this, a Simon Nogo task was combined with EEG signal decomposition, multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), and source localization methods. The final sample comprised n = 59 (32♂) AUD participants and n = 64 (28♂) control participants. Compared with the control group, AUD participants showed overall better response inhibition performance. Furthermore, the AUD group was less influenced by the modulatory effect of automatic vs. controlled processes during response inhibition (i.e., had a smaller Simon Nogo effect). The neurophysiological data revealed that the reduced Simon Nogo effect in the AUD group was associated with reduced activation differences between congruent and incongruent Nogo trials in the inferior and middle frontal gyrus. Notably, the drinking frequency (but not the number of AUD criteria we had used to distinguish groups) predicted the extent of the Simon Nogo effect. We suggest that the counterintuitive advantage of participants with mild-to-moderate AUD over those in the control group could be explained by the allostatic model of drinking effects.

The influence of reward in the Simon task: Differences and similarities to the Stroop and Eriksen flanker tasks

Previous studies have suggested that performance-contingent reward can modulate cognitive control by biasing irrelevant location-response associations in the Simon task. However, the influence of reward in the case of irrelevant words (Stroop task) or irrelevant flankers (Eriksen Flanker task) remains unclear. Across two preregistered experiments, the present study investigated the influence of reward on conflict processing with different types of distractors. Conflict effects on mean reaction time (RT) were reduced in the Simon task (Experiments 1 and 2) when incongruent versus congruent trials were rewarded, and this modulating effect of reward on conflict processing was also observed in the Eriksen flanker task (Experiment 2), but not in the Stroop task (Experiment 1). We propose that cognitive control adjustments to distractor-specific reward contingencies can be generalized across distractor types producing both perceptual-related (Flanker task) and motor-related (Simon task) conflict, but, if any, to a limited degree when distractors produce additional higher-level task conflict (Stroop task). In addition, distributional RT analyses (delta plots) revealed that rewarded distractor-response associations modulate cognitive control not only via biasing the strength (Simon and Eriksen tasks) but also the time-course of suppressing distractor processing (Eriksen task). Overall, the present study dissociated distractor-general and distractor-specific effects of reward on cognitive control.

Saccadic landing positions reveal that eye movements are affected by distractor-based retrieval

Binding theories assume that stimulus and response features are integrated into short-lasting episodes and that upon repetition of any feature the whole episode is retrieved, thereby affecting performance. Such binding theories are nowadays the standard explanation for a wide range of action control tasks and aim to explain all simple actions, without making assumptions of effector specificity. Yet, it is unclear if eye movements are affected by integration and retrieval in the same way as manual responses. We asked participants to discriminate letters framed by irrelevant shapes. In Experiment 1, participants gave their responses with eye movements. Saccade landing positions showed a spatial error pattern consistent with predictions of binding theories. Saccadic latencies were not affected. In Experiment 2 with an increased interval between prime and probe, the error pattern diminished, again congruent with predictions of binding theories presuming quickly decaying retrieval effects. Experiment 3 used the same task as in Experiment 1, but participants executed their responses with manual key presses; again, we found a binding pattern in response accuracy. We conclude that eye movements and manual responses are affected by the same integration and retrieval processes, supporting the tacit assumption of binding theories to apply to any effector.

Cingulate cortex morphology impacts on neurofunctional activity and behavioral performance in interference tasks

Inhibitory control is the capacity to withhold or suppress a thought or action intentionally. The anterior Midcingulate Cortex (aMCC) participates in response inhibition, a proxy measure of inhibitory control. Recent research suggests that response inhibition is modulated by individual variability in the aMCC sulcal morphology. However, no study has investigated if this phenomenon is associated with neurofunctional differences during a task. In this study, 42 participants performed an Attention Network Task and a Numerical Stroop task in an MRI scanner. We investigated differences in brain activity and response inhibition efficiency between individuals with symmetric and asymmetric aMCC sulcal patterns. The results showed that aMCC morphological variability is partly associated with inhibitory control, and revealed greater activation in individuals with symmetric patterns during the Stroop task. Our findings provide novel insights into the functional correlates of the relationship between aMCC morphology and executive abilities.

Reading about a RELO-VUTION

Pseudowords created by transposing two letters of words (e.g., MOHTER; CHOLOCATE) are highly confusable with their base word; this is known as the transposed-letter similarity effect. In this work, we examined whether transposed-letter effects occur when words span more than one line (e.g., CHOLO- in one line and CATE in another line; note that the transposed letters L and C are in different lines). While this type of presentation is not the canonical format for reading in alphabetic languages, it is widely used in advertising, billboards, and street signs. Transposed-letter pseudowords and their replacement-letter controls were written in the standard one-line format versus a two-line format (Experiments 1-2) or a syllable-per-line format (Experiment 3). While results showed some decrease in the transposed-letter effect in the two-line and syllabic formats, the transposed-letter effect was still substantial in the accuracy of responses. These findings demonstrate that even when the letters being transposed are relatively far apart in space, the transposed-letter effect is still robust. Thus, a major component of letter position coding occurs at an abstract level.

Wearing the face mask affects our social attention over space

Recent studies suggest that covering the face inhibits the recognition of identity and emotional expressions. However, it might also make the eyes more salient, since they are a reliable index to orient our social and spatial attention. This study investigates (1) whether the pervasive interaction with people with face masks fostered by the COVID-19 pandemic modulates the processing of spatial information essential to shift attention according to other's eye-gaze direction (i.e., gaze-cueing effect: GCE), and (2) whether this potential modulation interacts with motor responses (i.e., Simon effect). Participants were presented with face cues orienting their gaze to a congruent or incongruent target letter location (gaze-cueing paradigm) while wearing a surgical mask (Mask), a patch (Control), or nothing (No-Mask). The task required to discriminate the identity of the lateralized target letters by pressing one of two lateralized response keys, in a corresponding or a non-corresponding position with respect to the target. Results showed that GCE was not modulated by the presence of the Mask, but it occurred in the No-Mask condition, confirming previous studies. Crucially, the GCE interacted with Simon effect in the Mask and Control conditions, though in different ways. While in the Mask condition the GCE emerged only when target and response positions corresponded (i.e., Simon-corresponding trials), in the Control condition it emerged only when they did not correspond (i.e., Simon-non-corresponding trials). These results indicate that people with face masks induce us to jointly orient our visual attention in the direction of the seen gaze (GCE) in those conditions resembling (or associated with) a general approaching behavior (Simon-corresponding trials). This is likely promoted by the fact that we tend to perceive wearing the mask as a personal safety measure and, thus, someone wearing the face mask is perceived as a trustworthy person. In contrast, people with a patch on their face can be perceived as more threatening, therefore inducing a GCE in those conditions associated with a general avoidance behavior (Simon-non-corresponding trials).

The time-course of distractor-based activation modulates effects of speed-accuracy tradeoffs in conflict tasks

The cognitive processes underlying the ability of human performers to trade speed for accuracy is often conceptualized within evidence accumulation models, but it is not yet clear whether and how these models can account for decision-making in the presence of various sources of conflicting information. In the present study, we provide evidence that speed-accuracy tradeoffs (SATs) can have opposing effects on performance across two different conflict tasks. Specifically, in a single preregistered experiment, the mean reaction time (RT) congruency effect in the Simon task increased, whereas the mean RT congruency effect in the Eriksen task decreased, when the focus was put on response speed versus accuracy. Critically, distributional RT analyses revealed distinct delta plot patterns across tasks, thus indicating that the unfolding of distractor-based response activation in time is sufficient to explain the opposing pattern of congruency effects. In addition, a recent evidence accumulation model with the notion of time-varying conflicting information was successfully fitted to the experimental data. These fits revealed task-specific time-courses of distractor-based activation and suggested that time pressure substantially decreases decision boundaries in addition to reducing the duration of non-decision processes and the rate of evidence accumulation. Overall, the present results suggest that time pressure can have multiple effects in decision-making under conflict, but that strategic adjustments of decision boundaries in conjunction with different time-courses of distractor-based activation can produce counteracting effects on task performance with different types of distracting sources of information.

Relative, not absolute, stimulus size is responsible for a correspondence effect between physical stimulus size and left/right responses

Recent studies have demonstrated a novel compatibility (or correspondence) effect between physical stimulus size and horizontally aligned responses: Left-hand responses are shorter and more accurate to a small stimulus, compared to a large stimulus, whereas the opposite is true for right-hand responses. The present study investigated whether relative or absolute size is responsible for the effect. If relative size was important, a particular stimulus would elicit faster left-hand responses if the other stimuli in the set were larger, but the same stimulus would elicit a faster right-hand response if the other stimuli in the set were smaller. In terms of two-visual-systems theory, our study explores whether "vision for perception" (i.e., the ventral system) or "vision for action" (i.e., the dorsal system) dominates the processing of stimulus size in our task. In two experiments, participants performed a discrimination task in which they responded to stimulus color (Experiment 1) or to stimulus shape (Experiment 2) with their left/right hand. Stimulus size varied as an irrelevant stimulus feature, thus leading to corresponding (small-left; large-right) and non-corresponding (small-right; large-left) conditions. Moreover, a set of smaller stimuli and a set of larger stimuli, with both sets sharing an intermediately sized stimulus, were used in different conditions. The consistently significant two-way interaction between stimulus size and response location demonstrated the presence of the correspondence effect. The three-way interaction between stimulus size, response location, and stimulus set, however, was never significant. The results suggest that participants are inadvertently classifying stimuli according to relative size in a context-specific manner.

Restoration of Attention by Rest in a Multitasking World: Theory, Methodology, and Empirical Evidence

In this work, we evaluate the status of both theory and empirical evidence in the field of experimental rest-break research based on a framework that combines mental-chronometry and psychometric-measurement theory. To this end, we (1) provide a taxonomy of rest breaks according to which empirical studies can be classified (e.g., by differentiating between long, short, and micro-rest breaks based on context and temporal properties). Then, we (2) evaluate the theorizing in both the basic and applied fields of research and explain how popular concepts (e.g., ego depletion model, opportunity cost theory, attention restoration theory, action readiness, etc.) relate to each other in contemporary theoretical debates. Here, we highlight differences between all these models in the light of two symbolic categories, termed the resource-based and satiation-based model, including aspects related to the dynamics and the control (strategic or non-strategic) mechanisms at work. Based on a critical assessment of existing methodological and theoretical approaches, we finally (3) provide a set of guidelines for both theory building and future empirical approaches to the experimental study of rest breaks. We conclude that a psychometrically advanced and theoretically focused research of rest and recovery has the potential to finally provide a sound scientific basis to eventually mitigate the adverse effects of ever increasing task demands on performance and well-being in a multitasking world at work and leisure.

The Nencki-Symfonia electroencephalography/event-related potential dataset: Multiple cognitive tasks and resting-state data collected in a sample of healthy adults

Background

One of the goals of neuropsychology is to understand the brain mechanisms underlying aspects of attention and cognitive control. Several tasks have been developed as a part of this body of research, however their results are not always consistent. A reliable comparison of the data and a synthesis of study conclusions has been precluded by multiple methodological differences. Here, we describe a publicly available, high-density electroencephalography (EEG) dataset obtained from 42 healthy young adults while they performed 3 cognitive tasks: (i) an extended multi-source interference task; (ii) a 3-stimuli oddball task; (iii) a control, simple reaction task; and (iv) a resting-state protocol. Demographic and psychometric information are included within the dataset.

Dataset Validation

First, data validation confirmed acceptable quality of the obtained EEG signals. Typical event-related potential (ERP) waveforms were obtained, as expected for attention and cognitive control tasks (i.e., N200, P300, N450). Behavioral results showed the expected progression of reaction times and error rates, which confirmed the effectiveness of the applied paradigms.

Conclusions

This dataset is well suited for neuropsychological research regarding common and distinct mechanisms involved in different cognitive tasks. Using this dataset, researchers can compare a wide range of classical EEG/ERP features across tasks for any selected subset of electrodes. At the same time, 128-channel EEG recording allows for source localization and detailed connectivity studies. Neurophysiological measures can be correlated with additional psychometric data obtained from the same participants. This dataset can also be used to develop and verify novel analytical and classification approaches that can advance the field of deep/machine learning algorithms, recognition of single-trial ERP responses to different task conditions, and detection of EEG/ERP features for use in brain-computer interface applications.

Pretrial Theta Band Activity Affects Context-dependent Modulation of Response Inhibition

The ability to inhibit a prepotent response is a crucial prerequisite of goal-directed behavior. So far, research on response inhibition has mainly examined these processes when there is little to no cognitive control during the decision to respond. We manipulated the "context" in which response inhibition has to be exerted (i.e., a controlled or an automated context) by combining a Simon task with a go/no-go task and focused on theta band activity. To investigate the role of "context" in response inhibition, we also examined how far theta band activity in the pretrial period modulates context-dependent variations of theta band activity during response inhibition. This was done in an EEG study applying beamforming methods. Here, we examined n = 43 individuals. We show that an automated context, as opposed to a controlled context, compromises response inhibition performance and increases the need for cognitive control. This was also related to context-dependent modulations of theta band activity in superior frontal and middle frontal regions. Of note, results showed that theta band activity in the pretrial period, associated with the right inferior frontal cortex, was substantially correlated with context-dependent modulations of theta band activity during response inhibition. The direction of the obtained correlation provides insights into the functional relevance of a pretrial theta band activity. The data suggest that pretrial theta band activity reflects some form of attentional sampling to inform possible upcoming processes signaling the need for cognitive control.

Strategies that reduce Stroop interference

A remarkable example of reducing Stroop interference is provided by the word blindness post-hypnotic suggestion (a suggestion to see words as meaningless during the Stroop task). This suggestion has been repeatedly demonstrated to halve Stroop interference when it is given to highly hypnotizable people. In order to explore how highly hypnotizable individuals manage to reduce Stroop interference when they respond to the word blindness suggestion, we tested four candidate strategies in two experiments outside of the hypnotic context. A strategy of looking away from the target words and a strategy of visual blurring demonstrated compelling evidence for substantially reducing Stroop interference in both experiments. However, the pattern of results produced by these strategies did not match those of the word blindness suggestion. Crucially, neither looking away nor visual blurring managed to speed up incongruent responses, suggesting that neither of these strategies is the likely underlying mechanism of the word blindness suggestion. Although the current results did not unravel the mystery of the word blindness suggestion, they showed that there are multiple voluntary ways through which participants can dramatically reduce Stroop interference.