Stimulus-stimulus discrepancy and stimulus-response conflict in Stroop task: an event-related fMRI study

Abstract. Previous analyses of response time distributions have shown that the Stroop effect is observed in the mode (μ) and standard deviation (σ) of the normal part of the distribution, as well as its tail (τ). Specifically, interference related to semantic and response processes has been suggested to specifically affect the mode and tail, respectively. However, only one study in the literature has directly manipulated semantic interference, and none manipulating response interference. The present research aims to address this gap by manipulating both semantic and response interference in a manual response Stroop task, and examining how these components of Stroop interference affect the response time distribution. Ex-Gaussian analysis showed both semantic and response conflict to only affect τ. Analyzing the distribution by rank-ordered response times (Vincentizing) showed converging results as the magnitude of both semantic and response conflict increased with slower response times. Additionally, response conflict appeared earlier on the distribution compared to semantic conflict. These findings further highlight the difficulty in attributing specific psychological processes to different parameters (i.e., μ, σ, and τ). The effect of different response modalities on the makeup of Stroop interference is also discussed.

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Behavioral and electrophysiological investigation of semantic and response conflict in the Stroop task

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review ◽

10.3758/s13423-014-0697-z ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 543-549 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Maria Augustinova ◽

Laetitia Silvert ◽

Ludovic Ferrand ◽

Pierre Michel Llorca ◽

Valentin Flaudias

Keyword(s):

Stroop Task ◽

Response Conflict ◽

Electrophysiological Investigation

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Temporal and spectral profiles of stimulus–stimulus and stimulus–response conflict processing

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.11.045 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 89 ◽

pp. 280-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Kai Wang ◽

Qi Li ◽

Ya Zheng ◽

Hongbin Wang ◽

Xun Liu

Keyword(s):

Response Conflict ◽

Conflict Processing ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Spectral Profiles

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Neural Priming in Human Frontal Cortex: Multiple Forms of Learning Reduce Demands on the Prefrontal Executive System

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21132 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (9) ◽

pp. 1766-1781 ◽

Cited By ~ 89

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Race ◽

Shanti Shanker ◽

Anthony D. Wagner

Keyword(s):

Frontal Cortex ◽

Multiple Forms ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

The Past ◽

Repetition Suppression ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Human Frontal Cortex ◽

Executive System ◽

Stimulus Classification

Past experience is hypothesized to reduce computational demands in PFC by providing bottom–up predictive information that informs subsequent stimulus-action mapping. The present fMRI study measured cortical activity reductions (“neural priming”/“repetition suppression”) during repeated stimulus classification to investigate the mechanisms through which learning from the past decreases demands on the prefrontal executive system. Manipulation of learning at three levels of representation—stimulus, decision, and response—revealed dissociable neural priming effects in distinct frontotemporal regions, supporting a multiprocess model of neural priming. Critically, three distinct patterns of neural priming were identified in lateral frontal cortex, indicating that frontal computational demands are reduced by three forms of learning: (a) cortical tuning of stimulus-specific representations, (b) retrieval of learned stimulus-decision mappings, and (c) retrieval of learned stimulus-response mappings. The topographic distribution of these neural priming effects suggests a rostrocaudal organization of executive function in lateral frontal cortex.

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Cognitive control in bilinguals: Advantages in Stimulus–Stimulus inhibition

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728913000564 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 610-629 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

HENRIKE K. BLUMENFELD ◽

VIORICA MARIAN

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Language Processing ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Simon Task ◽

Irrelevant Information ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Stimulus Features ◽

Task Irrelevant ◽

Language Profiles

Bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals at suppressing task-irrelevant information and on overall speed during cognitive control tasks. Here, monolinguals’ and bilinguals’ performance was compared on two nonlinguistic tasks: a Stroop task (with perceptualStimulus–Stimulus conflictamong stimulus features) and a Simon task (withStimulus–Response conflict). Across two experiments testing bilinguals with different language profiles, bilinguals showed more efficient Stroop than Simon performance, relative to monolinguals, who showed fewer differences across the two tasks. Findings suggest that bilingualism may engage Stroop-type cognitive control mechanisms more than Simon-type mechanisms, likely due to increased Stimulus–Stimulus conflict during bilingual language processing. Findings are discussed in light of previous research on bilingual Stroop and Simon performance.

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An fMRI study of the numerical Stroop task in individuals with and without minimal cognitive impairment

Cortex ◽

10.1016/j.cortex.2007.11.009 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 44 (9) ◽

pp. 1248-1255 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Liane Kaufmann ◽

Anja Ischebeck ◽

Elisabeth Weiss ◽

Florian Koppelstaetter ◽

Christian Siedentopf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Numerical Stroop Task

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Neural correlates of distance and congruity effects in a numerical Stroop task: an event-related fMRI study

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.12.041 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 888-898 ◽

Cited By ~ 130

Author(s):

Liane Kaufmann ◽

Florian Koppelstaetter ◽

Margarete Delazer ◽

Christian Siedentopf ◽

Paul Rhomberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stroop Task ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Numerical Stroop Task

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List-level control in the flanker task

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021820912477 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (9) ◽

pp. 1444-1459 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julie M Bugg ◽

Corentin Gonthier

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Design Experiment ◽

Potential Solution ◽

Level Control ◽

Established Method ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Multiple Levels ◽

First Time

Current theories posit multiple levels of cognitive control for resolving conflict, including list-level control: the global or proactive biasing of attention across a list of trials. However, to date, evidence for pure list-level control has largely been confined to the Stroop task. Our goals were twofold: (a) test the generality of theoretical accounts by seeking evidence for list-level control in the letter flanker task, using an established method involving diagnostic items, and investigating the conditions under which list-level control may and may not be observed and (b) develop and test a potential solution to the challenge of isolating list-level control in tasks with a relatively limited set of stimuli and responses such as arrow flanker. Our key findings were that list-level control was observed for the first time in a letter flanker task on diagnostic items (Experiment 1), and it was not observed when the design was altered to encourage learning and use of simple stimulus–response associations (Experiment 2). These findings support the generalisability of current theoretical accounts positing dual-mechanisms or multiple levels of control, and the associations as antagonists to control account positing that list-level control may be a last resort, to conflict tasks besides Stroop. List-level control was also observed in the arrow flanker task using a modified design (Experiment 3), which could be extended to other conflict tasks with limited sets of stimuli (four or fewer), although this solution is not entirely free of confounds.

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Attentional retraining and cognitive biases in a regular cannabis smoking student population

SUCHT - Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Praxis / Journal of Addiction Research and Practice ◽

10.1024/0939-5911/a000455 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 62 (6) ◽

pp. 355-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

P. Andrea Wolf ◽

Elske Salemink ◽

Reinout W. Wiers

Keyword(s):

Attentional Bias ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Avoidance Task ◽

Implicit Measures ◽

Approach And Avoidance ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Visual Probe ◽

Problematic Substance Use ◽

Problematic Substance

Abstract. Aim Repeated drug use can lead to attentional bias and approach tendencies, which are thought to play an important role in problematic substance use and dependence. The aims of the current study were to 1) test an attentional retraining procedure in a sample of moderate and heavy cannabis using students and 2) compare baseline attentional and approach bias between the two groups with different implicit measures. Design and participants Attentional bias scores toward cannabis-related or neutral stimuli were determined with modified versions of the Visual Probe Task and the cannabis Stroop task. Approach and avoidance action tendencies toward cannabis-related and neutral stimuli were assessed with the cannabis Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) and the Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC). Seventeen participants were assigned randomly to five sessions of an attentional retraining procedure or control training. Results Attentional retraining did not decrease the speeded detection of cannabis stimuli and the difficulty to disengage from those stimuli, no trainingseffects were revealed. Moderate cannabis users did not show an attentional bias for cannabis-related cues (measured with the cannabis Stroop task), whereas heavy cannabis users did show an attentional bias for cannabis-related stimuli that cannot be attributed to cognitive control deficits on the classical Stroop task. Moreover, heavy cannabis users, but not moderate users, were significant faster to approach cannabis images compared to neutral images, using the SRC task. Conclusion Seen the observed difference in cognitive biases towards cannabis stimuli between moderate and heavy cannabis users, this study supports the allegation that cognitive biases towards cannabis stimuli may be an important marker of problematic cannabis use.

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