The Stroop effect at 80: The competition between stimulus control and cognitive control

2016 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Washburn
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stimulus Control ◽  
Stroop Effect

scholarly journals Modulation of Conflict Processing by Theta-Range tACS over the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Lehr ◽  
Niklas Henneberg ◽  
Tarana Nigam ◽  
Walter Paulus ◽  
Andrea Antal
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Control Network ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

Behavioral response conflict arises in the color-word Stroop task and triggers the cognitive control network. Midfrontal theta-band oscillations correlate with adaptive control mechanisms during and after conflict resolution. In order to prove causality, in two experiments, we applied transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 6 Hz to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during Stroop task performance. Sham stimulation served as a control in both experiments; 9.7 Hz tACS served as a nonharmonic alpha band control in the second experiment. We employed generalized linear mixed models for analysis of behavioral data. Accuracy remained unchanged by any type of active stimulation. Over both experiments, the Stroop effect (response time difference between congruent and incongruent trials) was reduced by 6 Hz stimulation as compared to sham, mainly in trials without prior conflict adaptation. Alpha tACS did not modify the Stroop effect. Theta tACS can both reduce the Stroop effect and modulate adaptive mechanisms of the cognitive control network, suggesting midfrontal theta oscillations as causally involved in cognitive control.

Selective reinforcement of conflict processing in the Stroop task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Prével ◽  
Ruth Krebs ◽  
Nanne Kukkonen ◽  
Senne Braem
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Conflict Processing ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Threshold Procedure ◽  
Reward Contingencies ◽  
New Guidelines

Motivation signals have been shown to influence the engagement of cognitive control processes. However, most studies focus on the invigorating effect of reward prospect, rather than the reinforcing effect of reward feedback. The present study aimed to test whether people strategically adapt conflict processing when confronted with condition-specific congruency-reward contingencies in a manual Stroop task. Results show that the size of the Stroop effect can be affected by selectively rewarding responses following incongruent versus congruent trials. However, our findings also suggest important boundary conditions. Our first two experiments only show a modulation of the Stroop effect in the first half of the experimental blocks, possibly due to our adaptive threshold procedure demotivating adaptive behavior over time. The third experiment showed an overall modulation of the Stroop effect, but did not find evidence for a similar modulation on test items, leaving open whether this effect generalizes to the congruency conditions, or is stimulus-specific. More generally, our results are consistent with computational models of cognitive control and support contemporary learning perspectives on cognitive control. The findings also offer new guidelines and directions for future investigations on the selective reinforcement of cognitive control processes.

scholarly journals In search of blue-light effects on cognitive control

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsing-Hao Lee ◽  
Yun-Chen Tu ◽  
Su-Ling Yeh
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Blue Light ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Light Effects ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Stimulation Of

AbstractPeople are constantly exposed to blue light while engaging in work. It is thus crucial to understand if vast exposure to blue light influences cognitive control, which is essential for working efficiently. Previous studies proposed that the stimulation of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), a newly discovered photoreceptor that is highly sensitive to blue light, could modulate non-image forming functions. Despite studies that showed blue light (or ipRGCs) enhances brain activations in regions related to cognitive control, how exposure to blue light changes our cognitive control behaviorally remains elusive. We examined whether blue light influences cognitive control through three behavioral tasks in three studies: the sustained attention to response task (SART), the task-switching paradigm, and the Stroop task. Classic effects of the SART, switch cost, and the Stroop effect were found, but no differences were observed in results of different background lights across the six experiments. Together, we conclude that these domains of cognitive control are not influenced by blue light and ipRGCs, and whether the enhancement of blue light on brain activities extends to the behavioral level should be carefully re-examined.

Mind wandering at encoding, but not at retrieval, disrupts one-shot stimulus-control learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Whitehead ◽  
Younis Mahmoud ◽  
Paul Seli ◽  
Tobias Egner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Stimulus Control ◽  
Control Process ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Episodic Event ◽  
Event Files ◽  
Control Learning ◽  
Active Attention ◽  
The One

The one-shot pairing of a stimulus with a specific cognitive control process, such as task switching, can bind the two together in memory. The episodic control-binding hypothesis posits that the formation of temporary stimulus-control bindings, which are held in event-files supported by episodic memory, can guide the contextually appropriate application of cognitive control. Across two experiments, we sought to examine the role of task-focused attention in the encoding and implementation of stimulus-control bindings in episodic event-files. In Experiment 1, we obtained self-reports of mind wandering during encoding and implementation of stimulus-control bindings. Results indicated that, whereas mind wandering during the implementation of stimulus-control bindings does not decrease their efficacy, mind wandering during the encoding of these control-state associations interferes with their successful deployment at a later point. In Experiment 2, we complemented these results by using trial-by-trial pupillometry to measure attention, again demonstrating that attention levels at encoding predict the subsequent implementation of stimulus-control bindings better than attention levels at implementation. These results suggest that, although encoding stimulus-control bindings in episodic memory requires active attention and engagement, once encoded, these bindings are automatically deployed to guide behavior when the stimulus recurs. These findings expand our understanding of how cognitive control processes are integrated into episodic event files.

Conflict adaptation and cognitive control adjustments following traumatic brain injury

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 927-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL J. LARSON ◽  
DAVID A.S. KAUFMAN ◽  
WILLIAM M. PERLSTEIN
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Severe Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Congruent Trial ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Conflict Adaptation ◽  
Control Functions ◽  
Related Potentials

AbstractSurvivors of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often demonstrate impairments in the cognitive control functions of detecting response conflict and signaling for recruitment of cognitive resources to appropriately adjust performance. These cognitive control functions can be measured using conflict adaptation effects, wherein manifestations of conflict detection and processing are reduced following high- relative to low-conflict trials. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected while 18 survivors of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 21 demographically matched control participants performed a modified Stroop task. The incongruent-minus-congruent trial Stroop effect for trials preceded by incongruent (high conflict) and congruent (low conflict) trials were compared for behavioral (response time [RT] and error rate) and ERP reflections of cognitive control. Behavioral data showed a reduction in the Stroop effect for both control and TBI participant RTs when preceded by incongruent trials. The magnitude of these effects did not differentiate control and TBI participants. ERP data revealed a centro-parietal conflict slow potential (conflict SP) that differentiated incongruent from congruent trials. Planned comparisons showed a decreased amplitude conflict SP when ERPs were preceded by incongruent trials in control, but not TBI participants. Results indicate subtle TBI-related impairments in conflict resolution mechanisms in the context of intact RT-related conflict adaptation. (JINS, 2009, 15, 927–937.)

scholarly journals Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control: A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach to Test-Retest Reliability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jean-Paul Snijder
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Hierarchical Bayesian ◽  
Reasoning Problem ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Measurement Practices

Cognitive control, also known as attentional control or executive function, is a set of fundamental processes that are utilized in a wide range of cognitive functioning: including working memory, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Currently, no existing theory of cognitive control unifies experimental and individual differences approaches. Some even argue that cognitive control as a psychometric construct does not exist at all. These disparities may exist in part because individual differences research in cognitive control utilizes tasks optimized for experimental effects (i.e., Stroop effect). As a result, many cognitive control tasks do not have reliable individual differences despite robust experimental effects (Hedge, Powell, & Sumner, 2018). In the current study, we examine the efficacy of a new task battery based on the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control theory (DMCC; Braver, 2012) to provide reliable estimates of individual differences in cognitive control. With two sets of analyses, the first traditional (e.g., split-half, ICC, and rho), and the second hierarchical Bayesian, we provide evidence that (1) reliable individual differences can be extracted from experimental tasks, and (2) weak correlations between tasks of cognitive control are not solely caused by the attenuation of unreliable estimates. The implications of our findings suggest that it is unlikely that poor measurement practices are the cause of the weak between-task correlations in cognitive control, and that a psychometric construct of cognitive control should be reconsidered

scholarly journals Selective reinforcement of conflict processing in the Stroop task

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0255430
Author(s):  
Arthur Prével ◽  
Ruth M. Krebs ◽  
Nanne Kukkonen ◽  
Senne Braem
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Conflict Processing ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Threshold Procedure ◽  
Reward Contingencies ◽  
New Guidelines

Motivation signals have been shown to influence the engagement of cognitive control processes. However, most studies focus on the invigorating effect of reward prospect, rather than the reinforcing effect of reward feedback. The present study aimed to test whether people strategically adapt conflict processing when confronted with condition-specific congruency-reward contingencies in a manual Stroop task. Results show that the size of the Stroop effect can be affected by selectively rewarding responses following incongruent versus congruent trials. However, our findings also suggest important boundary conditions. Our first two experiments only show a modulation of the Stroop effect in the first half of the experimental blocks, possibly due to our adaptive threshold procedure demotivating adaptive behavior over time. The third experiment showed an overall modulation of the Stroop effect, but did not find evidence for a similar modulation on test items, leaving open whether this effect generalizes to the congruency conditions, or is stimulus-specific. More generally, our results are consistent with computational models of cognitive control and support contemporary learning perspectives on cognitive control. The findings also offer new guidelines and directions for future investigations on the selective reinforcement of cognitive control processes.

The Effect of Automatic vs. Reflective Emotions on Cognitive Control in Antisaccade Tasks and the Emotional Stroop Test

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil K. Imbir ◽  
Maria T. Jarymowicz
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Stroop Test ◽  
Emotional Stroop ◽  
Antisaccade Task ◽  
Emotional Stroop Effect ◽  
Basic Determinant

Abstract The article presents two studies based on the assumption that the effectiveness of cognitive control depends on the subject’s type of emotional state. Inhibitory control is taken into account, as the basic determinant of the antisaccade reactions and the emotional Stroop effect. The studies deal with differentiation of emotions on the basis of their origin: automatic (due to primary affective reactions) vs. reflective (due to deliberative evaluation). According to the main assumption, automatic emotions are diffusive, and decrease the effectiveness of cognitive control. The hypothesis predicted that performance level of both the Antisaccade Task and the Emotional Stroop Test would be lower in the automaticemotion eliciting condition than in the reflective-emotion eliciting condition. In two experimental studies, positive and negative (automatic vs. reflective) emotions were elicited. The results support the predictions, regardless of the valence of emotions.

scholarly journals Performance feedback promotes proactive but not reactive adaptation of conflict-control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Bejjani ◽  
Sophie Tan ◽  
Tobias Egner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Psychiatric Treatment ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Control Learning ◽  
Attentional Selectivity ◽  
And Control

Cognitive control refers to the use of internal goals to guide how we process stimuli, and control can be applied proactively (in anticipation of a stimulus) or reactively (once that stimulus has been presented). The application of control can be guided by memory; for instance, people typically learn to adjust their level of attentional selectivity to changing task statistics, such as different frequencies of hard and easy trials in the Stroop task. This type of “control-learning” is highly adaptive, but its boundary conditions are currently not well understood. In the present study, we assessed how the presence of performance feedback shapes control-learning in the context of item-specific (reactive control, Experiments 1a and 1b) and list-wide (proactive control, Experiments 2a and 2b) proportion of congruency manipulations in a Stroop protocol. We found that performance feedback did not alter the modulation of the Stroop effect by item-specific cueing, but did enhance the modulation of the Stroop effect by a list-wide context. Performance feedback thus selectively promoted proactive, but not reactive, adaptation of cognitive control. These results have important implications for experimental designs, potential psychiatric treatment, and theoretical accounts of the mechanisms underlying control-learning.

scholarly journals The Stroop Effect From a Mixture of Reading Processes: A Fixed-Point Analysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Tillman
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Point ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Point Property ◽  
Critical Test ◽  
Reading Processes ◽  
Point Analysis ◽  
Print Color

For the last 80 years, the Stroop task has been used to test theories of attention and cognitive control and it has been applied in many clinical settings. Most theories posit that the overwhelming power of written words overcomes strict instructions to focus on print color and ignore the word. Recent evidence suggests that trials in the Stroop task could in fact be a mixture of reading trials and non-reading trials. Here we conduct a critical test of this mixture hypothesis, where a mixture of processes should satisfy the xed-point property (Falmagne, 1968).

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